The Forgotten Factor
by The-Real-Ponytail-Link
Summary: Getting a major facelift. Will be re-uploading chapters.
1. Introduction

Authors Note: Well, I'm glad to say I've decided to go ahead and write some Yuri x Estelle. My Yu Yu Hakusho readers, I am dearly sorry to have taken so long to return, there was no excuse for it and I shall update 祝日の物語 sometime soon. I'm very sorry for taking so long.

Anyway, please enjoy the Introduction. I'll try to update it again before too long.

:EDITED: Estelle's name, eyes, and the final paragraph.

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><p>Stray locks of golden hair shrouded equally golden eyes from view as they floated along the chilling night breeze that swept across the barren sandy dunes of Korgorh. The dim moonlight illuminated the shadow of a thin woman against aqua-toned sand. She was donned in strange attire, much unlike anything the age had ever seen before.<p>

She stood there alone, a top of the dunes and staring out into the distance.

"Milady, what're-?" A man's voice said from behind her, brisk and fresh, an energized bounce in his step.

"What am I doing out here?" The woman replied, her voice's tone akin to that of a trickling forest stream, "I'm doing exactly what I want to do, Zagrest." She kept her back to him, facing the moon quietly as her long golden hair, carried on the wind, whipped wildly around her head as the wind picked up. Behind her, Zagrest gripped his hat for dear life, cursing the strengthening breeze, trying to shout over it to her.

"But, Dea del Mondo…." Zagrest yelled, his blue eyes narrowed in concern and annoyance as Dea continued to ignore him, "We cannot remain here long!" He was sure she didn't hear him, so he pressed on, brushing stray strands of ginger hair out of his face and trying not to choke on the sand, "This place, this world isn't-" He wasn't surprised when she once again cut him off; it seemed she made quite a habit of it these days.

"-Any of my concern….?" Dea scoffed, glancing back at Zagrest, her features half-hidden in darkness. "And who do you think you are talking to?" Her icy tone chilled him more than the harsh wind and he recoiled, slightly frightened. "I make the decisions here and that's final!" She growled, her expression saying quite plainly not to argue with her; never mind his previous statement, Zagrest was terrified of her. The grown man began to shake stiffly, and not due to the deserts freezing night temperature. She glared a few moments longer, before turning and looking back at the moon. "An apology for your terror, Zagrest" She murmured quietly as the wind died down and her hair fell to place around her face "You've nothing but loyal to me, and you're only looking out for my best interests…" Zagrest remained silent behind her, his short ginger hair safely tucked behind his ears. The wind had died with her irritation, but the wind hadn't bothered him in the first place. He had forgotten just how frightening she could be.

"Milady…." Zagrest began with some hesitation, before slowly approaching her from behind, slowly continuing his first statement, "what are you exactly planning to do?" He paused once again, now standing next to her and equally illuminated by the full moon. Even without the wind, the nights were still chilly, he thought with a scowl as he looked down at Dea. "You know…" He shrugged his shoulders, trying to think of a good way to say it. "…you're not going to destroy this world, right?" He said, for a lack of a better way to state it.

"Depends…" Dea sighed somewhat remorsefully, before looking up into the sky and searching it. When nothing was found, she sighed and turned away, "Perhaps I might," Words uttered almost nonchalantly as she turned away from the moon and Zagrest. "Perhaps I might not…" She closed her eyes and completely turned her back to the moon and began descending the dunes, Zagrest watching her.

"Dea del Mondo…" He muttered, watching her retreating figure slow and look over her shoulder patiently. Zagrest looked up at the sky and searched for several moments. "…Never mind," He muttered after several minutes of silence and sky searching, before he too turned his back on the full moon and descended the dunes. The two of them glanced at each other, before disappearing into the sands of the Korgorh desert.

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><p>A nice, cool charming spring breeze filtered itself through the windows of the homes of the lower quarter as the inhabitants busied themselves spring cleaning. People were laughing, talking and children playing in the streets. Some vendors selling fruits and other food to some of the citizens, and old man Hanks couldn't help but wonder how long this lovely calm would last.<p>

"Yuri Lowell! You cad! Show yourself immediately!"

Not very long apparently, he sighed and closed his eyes. The second that troublemaker from Brave Vesperia had set foot in town; this is what had been expected of him. The older man didn't try to stop the Schwann Brigade from darting across the plaza in search of their nuisance; he knew their target would make enough fools of them already. The fruit vendor to his right and several of the other lower quarter residents giggled at the sight of the brigade, knowing their fate even if they didn't.

Only moments later, just a bit further down the stairs they heard yelps of surprise followed by loud splashes, then laughter mixed in with the angry shouts of the brigade ("We'll get you for this" and "How dare you!"). Just seconds later, the troublemaker himself darted through the center, dragging a still giggling girl in a simple white and yellow dress. He had just rounded the corner with the girl when the Schwann Brigade, soaking wet and huffing and puffing reached the center.

"Damn you Lowell! Return lady Estellise this moment!"

The center, filled with people, burst into laughter as two pebbles hit both members of the Schwann brigades' foreheads in reply. The two of them yelped and jumped back, rubbing their now red foreheads and looking around wildly to see where the source of the attack was from. Spotting a flash of pink, the shorter of the Schwann brigade shook the taller, and pointed. Alerted, the pink disappeared and the two men darted over to where it had been spotted and noticed their target among the crowds, sneaking with his "captive" right at his heels. "Yuri Lowell-!" They yelled, taking off down the street after them.

Hanks watched them go with a look of amusement; it was never boring with Yuri around to stir up trouble, even now.

"Do you think Yuri will ever grow up? The friendly fruit vendor asked chuckling as she handed Hanks an oval shaped orange colored fruit. "I mean, he's fun and all, but he's twenty two, twenty three now?" She brushed her hair out of her round, kind face with her right hand, and stretched her left towards the old man as Hanks handed her ten gald.

"Do I ever think he'll grow up…?" Hanks repeated quietly, rolling the fruit back and forth between his withered old hands. After a moment or two of contemplation, Hanks laughed loudly as the sounds of said person and his pursuers was carried on the wind to their ears. "Oh hell no! That boy will never grow up!" He laughed, catching a glimpse of the boy and his "captive" as they oh-so-cleverly snuck past the Schwann brigade once again before disappearing around another corner. "But this is the Yuri we all know and love…"

"Well I know that," The kind woman replied, her eyes also focused on the Schwann Brigade as they tried to figure out how their target had escaped. "But he can't remain like this forever…"

"He can sure as hell try." Hanks smiled, closing his eyes and enjoying the spring breeze. He looked at the orange fruit in his hands and suddenly thought of fruit salad, and turned to the vendor, "You know, I could also use a kirima…"

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><p>Gasping for breath atop the roof of the inn, Estelle couldn't stop shaking in laughter as her companion, equally wiped, relaxed and took in deep, calming breaths. She brushed her pink locks out of her green eyes, her cheeks still flushed from darting throughout the lower quarter. Regaining her breath, her eyes met with that of her companions, and moments later, they again both started laughing in unison.<p>

This always happened when Yuri returned from Dahngrest.

Finally the giggles died down and the two of them lay panting on the roof, looking up into the blue spring sky as birds passed over head. The wind picked up slightly, grabbing at her long cotton dress and flaring it up. Yelping, she sat up immediately and grabbed the cloth, jamming it under her now folded legs, a bright crimson blush painted across her peachy skin as swirling tendrils of her now shoulder-length hair played in her face. Moving the hair behind her ear, she noticed Yuri rolling upwards, his thick obsidian hair moving with the wind, his dark eyes meeting her green ones.

"That should show Flynn…" He smirked, trying not to chuckle when the sounds of Tweedle A and Tweedle B reached them. They must just be on the street below, Estelle thought with a little giggle, and completely unaware of their target just above them. "I come back to catch up, and he has the gall not only to set a few guards on me, but the persistent Schwann Brigade? Give me a break." He once again lay back against the aqua-tiled roof, and, tucking her dress under her legs, followed suite. "So, Estelle, how much longer until the council lets you go?"

Estelle was silent for a moment, her bangs casting a shadow over her face and mouth slightly downturned. Seconds later, she rolled her head to look at him, loving the feel of the warm tile against her cheek as he too, turned to look at her. "They said I would be relieved of any obligation to the throne soon as Ioder produces an heir." Her relative had gotten married late last year, and already the council was pressuring for a child, as normal as it was for royalty to be under this sort of pressure, Estelle still couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her relative. He wasn't used to the kind of pressure that both the Imperial Knights and the Council was putting on him. And even though he was stronger than he looked, Estelle still couldn't help but wonder. "But…" She said aloud, pulling herself out of her thoughts, "They want to keep me here for a bit longer."

"Well, that's disappointing…." Yuri sighed, frowning slightly, and closing eyes before continuing "Karol ordered me to bring you back immediately..." Estelle's gaze grew curious as he continued, had something happened to their guild? "…last year." He finished, smirking at the mixture of agitation and embarrassment on her face as she leaned forward and grabbed one of his locks of hair, his silky smooth thick pretty and shiny hair…and pulled. He yelped in surprise.

"Yuri!" Estelle pouted, a little annoyed that she had fallen for such an obvious trap. He laughed with that silly grin Estelle had fallen in love with a long time ago. Her guard down, she released her firm grip on his luscious hair and began playing with it, threading it through her fingers. Her irritation faded away as she played with his thick obsidian hair, replaced by more pressing matters in her mind… She lifted her eyes to meet Yuri's somewhat puzzled ones. She smiled at him, never being one to hold a grudge for long. He returned the smile, although a little confounded by her behavior.

"You're long overdue," He continued, looking up at the sky with a faraway look, "And Karol was wondering if you even wanted to return." He tried to sound nonchalant, but Estelle could hear the veiled strain, was he worried about her deciding to leave them as well? Yuri looked at her once again as she suddenly rolled over on her stomach, now just a few inches away from him.

"Of course I do!" Estelle exclaimed, facing him with her eyes wide open and brimming with excitement. "It's been almost a year since I've left the capital!" It was true, only months after saving the world, she had been approached by the council and the imperial knights, pleading her to come back to Zaphias immediately. Worried that something was terribly wrong, she had returned and they hadn't let her go since.

"That's what I thought you might say." Yuri chuckled, rolling to his side and facing her, his expression playful. "Karol will be happy to hear that." She heard his words, but Yuri's hair was distracting. The wind had made it so that his hair was all messy and scruffy, and she just wanted to run her fingers through it and play with it… "Uh….Estelle?"

"Oh! Sorry, Yuri!" Estelle dropped the lock of Yuri hair she was playing with as though it might bite her. Blushing profusely, she faced away from him for a few moments to regain herself and her silly little fantasies. She could hear him trying not to laugh at her from behind her and realized with another twinge of embarrassment, that he was just teasing her again. "….sorry…" She apologized anyway.

"I don't see why you're apologizing, you were only spacing out." Yuri replied, unaffected by her fascination with his hair, he was quite used to it by now. "I was going to ask how life was going in the castle, but your earlier statement answered that all on its own." He could see right through her, and she wasn't sure if she liked that or not. The object of her thoughts spoke up again in that catching voice of his, recapturing her undivided attention. "So, how's Flynn?"

"Flynn is…" Estelle wasn't sure how to answer this without being charged as an associate to homicide by ridicule. Yuri would love the news and wouldn't hesitate to go and tease Flynn with it. "…He's seeing someone…" She continued slowly, not taking notice on how Yuri was suddenly paying close attention to her every word and movement as she kept her eyes on the sky.

"Who?" Estelle heard his question, but didn't notice the hesitation, the deeper breathing; his downturned eyebrows as she was too busy observing the sky over Yuri, wondering if it would be alright if she told him. "Estelle….who is he seeing?" He questioned his voice low. If she had been paying full attention, she would have detected a note of nervousness in his tone. She turned to him and sighed.

"Promise not to tease him," She said, before glancing around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in to tell him. "He's courting Sodia now." She whispered, and waited for her friend's reaction. She knew he didn't really like Sodia for whatever reason, but was hoping he'd take it well.

"Oh, her." Yuri said bitingly, rolling onto his back and glaring up at the sky. "I hope he knows what he's getting himself into." He continued, his tone acid and eyes trained to the clouds. "That woman's a piece of work," He finished bitterly. For a moment he was silent, and Estelle felt as though she could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Then, he suddenly rolled to his side again with his giant evil grin and that twinkle in his eye; Estelle wondered if she could be charged as an associate to murder by mockery as Yuri's face all but said I-can't-wait-to-make-fun-of-Flynn.

"Yuri, how has the guild been doing?" Estelle asked, hoping to distract him from his plans of whatever the heck he planned to mock Flynn with out of his head. She saw his grin widen and lose the plotting air it had had before. She hadn't seen any of the guild members, besides him, in almost six months, and missed them dearly. She watched as he moved his arm under his head to slightly prop himself up and meet her eyes.

"Well, Karol's been busy dealing with Common Wealth, a small merchant guild that for whatever reason, he doesn't trust," The swordsman began nonchalantly, his words flowing easily, to her ears. "The old man is out on a job in Keiv Moc," Yuri continued, relaxing around her, losing track of their surroundings, "our little genius mage is playing around mana to see if it could be used to use magic…" Sounded like Rita, Estelle thought as Yuri listed off their remaining companions, "Judy's out picking something up for Karol in Mantaic." Yuri closed his eyes, enjoying the breeze, not realizing just how appealing he looked. Estelle's eyes traced his features, suddenly snapped out of it only when Yuri opened his mouth again and said. "And Repede is down in my room in the inn, sleeping." He didn't seem to notice her moments of distraction, Estelle thought with a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad everyone is doing all right." She said, closing her eyes, eyelashes dusting her lightly flushing cheeks, "I miss them all dearly and I can't wait until I am allowed to leave Zaphias." She opened her green eyes and gave Yuri one of her brightest smiles "And then, I'll visit Dahngrest to see them all," She could already see it in her mind, Karol, Raven, Judith, Ba'Ul, and Rita…. "After that though, I want to go with you, Yuri," She tried not to pay too much attention to the real weight her words carried, meeting his eyes shyly. "At that time, I want to tell you something. But I can't tell you until then." She refused to look away even as the slight heat was creeping through her cheeks "So, until I'm allowed to leave, can you tell me some more stories about the adventures of Brave Vesperia?" She said the guilds name flamboyantly, a big grin on her face- distracting both of them from her earlier, weightier words.

Yuri's eyes lit up almost immediately, just as she thought they would, and he instantaneously began a story involving Karol on a job in Heliord and getting stuck in a pipe he was cleaning. So instead of getting to work on his job, Yuri had to reach into the dirty, muddy pipe and pull his fellow guild member out. Raven's story was even better; the old man had finally taken it too far and, apparently, after nearly a week of being MIA was found tied upside down to a tree branch over the cliff. Both Rita and Judith denied any involvement, although everyone knew it had been them who did it. Rita, meanwhile, while investigating mana, had blown up her room in their new guild location and destroyed half of her wall. After reassuring Estelle that Rita was perfectly fine, Yuri pressed on. Judith had cooked the meal for the guild and had accidentally mistaken sugar for salt and god-knows-what for pepper, and cinnamon for cayenne chili powder, just saying that was enough for Estelle to shudder in disgust. Yuri was just about to tell her about a couple of axe-beaks he had encountered just before arriving in Zaphias when their time was cut short.

"We've found you, Yuri Lowell!"

"Return Lady Estellise!"

"Ahh, the dork squad returns," Yuri grumbled, seemingly annoyed that his story had been interrupted. Estelle watched him rise to his feet and offer her a hand as the clumsy Schwann brigade tried to climb up to the roof through the inn window. Taking it and slowly being pulled to her feet, Estelle watched the Schwann brigade pull themselves fully on the roof and clumsily stand. "Nice to see you guys and all, but, we'll be taking our leave." Yuri said courteously, before turning and jumping off the inns roof, Estelle loved the feeling of the wind underneath her feet in the moments before landing graciously on the lower roof of the nearby building. He jumped from the cyan roof of the building and into the town square, before turning to catch Estelle. Moments later, they were running hand in hand by the fountain, laughing and leaving the Schwann brigade throwing curses.

As Yuri dragged her through the streets, his larger, powerful hand wrapped warmly around her small yet powerful one; Estelle wished that these days would never end.

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><p><strong>"We'll kill them. We'll kill that idiotic emperor, that foolish commandant, and that interfering Brave Vesperia!"<strong>

**"Yuri, is something wrong, you seem distracted?"**

**"This is what will happen, Lowell, this is your fate."**


	2. The Plot: Hook

This was unexpectedly hard, yet fun, to write. Please enjoy.

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><p>The morning sunshine reflected off several dew-kissed petals, creating several prisms of light in the forest path just outside Zaphias. The small and humble dirt path remained untouched this early in the morning except by a few green and fresh leaves, fallen from the nearby trees by the winds of yesterday. The morning itself was rather quiet, the sky blue and dotted with a few fat, fluffy and thick clouds lazily moving across the horizon. A bird chirped quietly, its voice echoing through the woods, a wake up call to all the other animals.<p>

Suddenly, a foot in a grey boot smashed the leaves in the path into the somewhat soft mud, followed by another that ripped the already smashed leaf in two. The person ran down the path, his long and dark hair flowing none too gently behind him. His vest flapped against his powerful body as he ran, his determined obsidian eyes focused solely on the path ahead. Behind him, a creature smashed through the forest, tearing away at everything in its path.

He leapt out of the dark damp woods and into the warm sunlight and pleasant breeze, before twisting his body and grabbing at his red and strangely shaped sword as the enraged boar-like beast emerged, ripping apart the green bushes and emerald trees that had hidden it from common view just moments earlier.

A breeze against the boar's whiskers alerted it far too late as a blade of fire sliced diagonally down, past the monster's head and through the broad and muscled shoulder. The monster had no time to roar in pain as a swift and powerfully executed kick was delivered to the bloody wound before another strike to its injured and torn shoulder sent it into oblivion.

"Is that all?" The swordsman said, obviously disappointed, not even out of breath. "I was hoping it would put up more of a fight…" He moved over to the still warm carcass of his prey and sank slowly to his knees, hovering slightly over the ground so that his clothing wouldn't be wetted by the dewy grass. The man brought up his sword and deftly cut the muddy hooves off the dead creature, taking care not to make too much of a mess of the legs.

Perhaps picking up a few errands in Zaphias while he waited hadn't been a bad idea, Yuri thought as he wiped the mud from the hooves. Without the mud, the hooves were clear amber, just like they were supposed to be, with five thin veins of ruby running through them. Like the beast itself, the hooves fit the description perfectly. He could never be too sure though; the slightest difference in color could mean the wrong species entirely.

Now, for the hard part, he thought with a sigh of disdain. He stood up to his full height and looked down at the corpse and breathed deeply as he tried to answer the most pressing question… How the hell was he supposed to cart this thing back to the lower quarters?

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><p>Arms now beast-free, Yuri made his way up the marble steps to the palace. It was nearly noon, and he was sure he still smelled like dead animal even though he had scrubbed for nearly an hour to get rid of the stink. How he had even managed to drag that creature to Zaphias, he'd never know, but he did not intend to do it again anytime soon. Speaking of intentions, he intended to take a more discreet route the next time he visited the castle, he'd forgotten how annoying the nobles were. They apparently didn't know that it's rude to stare.<p>

Ignoring them, Yuri stared up into the front of the castle, looming just ahead of him. No matter how many times he looked at it, it looked like a prison. He didn't understand the common people's fascination with the building, the place was a maze and wasn't even all that great once you got inside. Sure, it had been fun the first few times he had played cat and mouse with the guards after escaping his cell, but after the adrenaline for that wore off, the castle became just boring.

Passing the main gate and the stiff guards who eyed him with slight distrust, Yuri made his way to the gardens to wait for Estelle. She'd probably gotten carried away in one of those books of hers and lost track of time. In hindsight, he could've probably been an hour late and have been fine. Now he was really regretting his rush to get here earlier; he could've actually taken a relaxing bath instead of furiously scrubbing off a layer of skin in a hurried attempt to freshen up. His skin was going to be sensitive and raw for a month…

"That foolish emperor is up to it again!"

Muffled voices to his right caught Yuri's attention, and as stealthily as he could, he dove behind a marble pillar to hide as broken fragments of the conversation drifted to his ears. There were two, no three men, older men just around the corner, close to the garden. They were obviously nervous from the way the man with the nasally voice spoke, and clearly up to no good from the sound of the man with the deep, biting voice. The third man didn't speak much, merely made noises of affirmation. Yuri tried to cement himself closer to the pillar in hopes of hearing them more clearly.

"We'll kill them. We'll kill that idiotic emperor, that foolish commandant, and that interfering Brave Vesperia!"

Yuri's eyes widened and he felt his heartbeat pick up at the sudden outburst, quickly followed by Mr. Nasal and Mr. Biting shushing their companion, trying to appease his sudden flare of anger. His curiosity sparked, Yuri slowly moved away from the pillar and sidled up against the wall, before creeping as close as close as he could to the corner, until all he would have to do to be seen was turn his head a little to the right.

"We can't talk about this here…" Mr. Nasal said anxiously, trying to remain quiet as so they might not be overheard, that is, if the lumbering oaf hadn't already given them away. "We should probably meet again later to discuss this…" After Mr. Nasal's second statement, there was a collective silence for several moments.

"I agree, Lord Elydor," Yuri's breath caught in his chest as the silence was destroyed by Mr. Biting's comment, "we should meet again later; perhaps in Bluebell Meadow around midnight." Mr. Biting continued, still unaware that they were being watched, Elydor and the other man did not speak, he said politely "So, until then, Lord Elydor, Lord Suingam."

"Until then, Lord Sutsycrof."

Yuri heard heavy footprints approaching, adrenaline rushing, he quickly, yet quietly darted to the pillar he had hid behind just minutes before. As Sutsycrof rounded the corner, Yuri immediately regretted his decision. If Sutsycrof was to turn left around the corner instead of heading straight ahead, Yuri knew he'd be spotted. Luckily, the man continued straight ahead, but Yuri remained hidden for several more moments, listening for the other two men.

Silence.

Sighing in relief, Yuri cautiously moved out of his hiding spot only after checking to see if the coast was clear. When all he could see was a blond knight approaching from the gate to the south and a blue-clad woman in the gardens to the north, he allowed himself to think about what he had overheard.

Elydor Seamus, Sutsycrof Forrest, and Suingam Craig, all were members of the Seven Elite, an organization that guided and governed the council; they were thought to be a part of the council, yet Yuri knew better. He knew that Ioder wasn't too popular with them, and that Flynn was despised, so he could understand the idea of killing them, but why would they have any interest in killing off Brave Vesperia? Perhaps he should alert Flynn...?

No. He didn't know enough just yet. If he alerted Flynn with the limited information, and possibly incorrect information that he had, something might go wrong. Maybe all the Seven Elite were in on this, and maybe just those three were the only ones planning anything. Heck, they could have half the army or several guilds at their feet, and as of now, Yuri had no idea if they truly did or didn't.

He would investigate a little more before telling Flynn.

"Yuri!"

His breath was suddenly knocked out of him as a blue-clad ball of energy barreled directly into his stomach. Loosing his once secure footing, the tall swordsman found himself falling to the ground, arms swinging wildly to try to help regain his balance. His efforts were in vain, and he crashed to the ground, his head banged against the quite hard, inflexible marble walkway. Only then did it occur to him that waving his arms around wasn't going to help him any, but it did make him look sufficiently idiotic.

He hoped Flynn hadn't seen that.

"You looked rather silly there, Yuri."

Damn.

"I'm sorry for knocking you down, Yuri!" Estelle (aka blue-clad ball of energy) said from her snug position on his chest, dressed in her blue ruffled and lacy dress and hair done up. How the hell had she ran so fast in that getup? Yuri thought with a grimace, his head ringing from the impact, and looked up at the woman on top of him and the blond knight just to his left.

"Don't be, Lady Estellise," Flynn laughed, his amour reflecting the sunlight and helmet tucked under his right arm. "Someone has to knock him down a few pegs every now and then, might as well be you."

Why that….

"I didn't think he'd fall!"

"Owww…. Could you get off me, Estelle?" Yuri groaned as his right hand cupped the bump on the back of his head and he willed himself not to curl into a ball and cradle his injured head. Flynn laughed as Estelle apologized profusely and gingerly climbed off him. Yuri slowly propped himself up, still a little dizzy from his fall…just how hard had he hit his head?

"Well Yuri, I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw you going through the front gate." Flynn smiled as his friend glared up at him from his seated position on the marble walk. "You usually sneak in; it seems you derive enjoyment in outwitting my men."

The commandant was absolutely correct in that, at least. It was fun to find new ways sneak past those silly guards. Most of the time it wasn't even a challenge, and more than once Yuri had spotted them sleeping on the job.

"I'll make sure to never use the front entrance again," Yuri muttered, still annoyed by the nobles apparent lack of manners. Also, he thought with a half-concealed pout, it was no fun if Estelle and Flynn noticed him before he spotted them. Seeing the looks of surprise when he did manage to pull it off was priceless, except that Flynn had nearly cut off his head last time he had attempted to startle him. Perhaps it was a good thing he had been seen first, he had no desire to repeat that episode.

"Don't like being the one to be surprised?" Flynn half smirked as he offered a hand to his friend. Taking it, Yuri pulled himself up and dusted off his clothes, reluctant to admit that Flynn was right. He hated being surprised.

"Shouldn't you be working, commandant?" Yuri grumbled sourly, glancing over at his armored friend as Estelle watched with a small smile, knowing full well by now that this was getting along for the two men. "It seems to me like you're slacking off."

"I can afford a moment. Being commandant isn't nearly as demanding in times of peace as it is in times of war." Flynn replied with a small smirk as he readjusted his helmet. "I actually came to tell you to stay until I get a better chance to talk to you."

"I haven't done anything," Yuri half-exclaimed; when Flynn and Estelle both looked at him in bemusement, he had the sudden embarrassing feeling that that had nothing to do with whatever Flynn wanted to talk to him about "…recently." He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away awkwardly. Estelle giggled.

"That's not it, Yuri," Flynn said with a sigh of amusement, looking back towards the gate. "I will leave you now to talk with Lady Estellise, but remember," the commandant added, facing his childhood friend, "to wait until I get a chance to talk to you." There was a call from the main gate, and Flynn replied with a loud yell. "Coming!" He looked back at Yuri and Estelle, bowing politely "I will take my leave now." Then, Flynn began walking slowly down the marble pathway, back to the gate.

Yuri watched him silently for a moment, before a devilish grin bloomed across his face. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loudly as he could "It wouldn't have anything to do with the little lady you're seeing, would it!" Flynn stumbled for a moment, his face glowing bright red, before standing up straight once again and continued making his way back to the gate. Now they were even for the 'knocked down a few pegs' comment.

Turning to Estelle, who had made her way to his side while he had taunted Flynn, Yuri awkwardly offered her his arm. Laughing at his unease as much as his attempt to be formal, Estelle simply took his hand in hers and the two of them made their way to the peaceful garden.

* * *

><p>Her company was always a pleasure. Always, she entertained him with her bright smile and sunny disposition. Her entertaining comments, her outlook on the world and differing viewpoint in their discourse always comforted him. Warm acceptance and trust, her actions weren't watched around him, and he knew that. Maybe he was being conceited, but he felt fairly certain that she was only really herself around him and away from the pressures of her social world. His eyes flickered again from the dress to her face.<p>

Even though Yuri was listening to every word she was saying, he was distracted by the way her lips moved when she was talking. Her delicate smooth skin at her neck and small, feminine, rounded shoulders, her bright, lively green eyes and healthy, glowing, smooth skin; he was turning into a dirty old man. Yuri shook himself slightly and focused once again fully on her face; taking care to avoid looking directly at her supple, naturally pink-stained lips.

Flynn would kill him if he ever found out where his mind had begun to wander off to.

"Yuri?" Her innocent voice interrupted his thought for a moment and he realized he had fazed out of the conversation. He felt slightly guilty for his semi-impure thoughts; however short lived he had made sure they remained. Yuri grinned at her, holding her hand in his. Pleased with his reaction, she continued talking to him about an old technique she had found in an ancient library book and had attempted while dilly-dallying around with her sword.

From what he was able to understand between her enthusiastic grins and eager, the attack she had found was simple multi-strike technique that, more or less, disoriented the enemy and allowed an ally to fatally wound the opponent easily.

"…you see, in order for the technique to work, you have to strike at least three of the nine targeted areas!" Estelle continued, her eyes merry and bright as she passionately continued, Yuri listened, entertained by her little lecture. "So it works the best followed up by a combo attack…" She paused, and averted her eyes timidly, "…that is….theoretically." It was rather cute when she did that little finger thing…could he not focus for more than a few minutes? However, the rest of Estelle's statement did not go unheard, "I haven't exactly got to try it out since I've been stuck here…"

"Well, why don't we try it out now?" The swordsman suggested as he leaned closer to her and away from the ancient vine and moss covered stone wall he had been relaxing against just moments earlier. From the way Estelle's eyes lit up at the suggestion; Yuri knew it had been a good idea to bring Flamberge with him after all. Rising to his feet, he offered her a hand which she gladly took.

Minutes later, they stood opposite of one another, weapons drawn and a playful tension in the air. Yuri looked confident and relaxed, Flamberge mounted on his shoulder, and his ever present smirk in place. Estelle remained determined and focused, a rapier she had borrowed from the armory in her hand and a simple wooden shield in the other.

Apparently the council had relieved her of the weapons they had gathered on their journey together, Yuri thought with a thinly concealed frown. Also, it didn't seem that her current attire would be too appropriate for a little swordfight- but, she had fought in those same clothes when they had first met, so what did he know?

"All I'm going to try to do is stun you…" Estelle warned, "But don't make it easy for me!" She continued with her mind solely on the task at hand. Yuri, distracted, thought it was really cute when she was focusing like that. "If I can't stun you during a battle, this technique is not worth mastering!"

What?

He was so taken aback by her former comment that he barely had time to react as she swung viciously at his midsection, the rapier cutting smoothly through the air with a fierce whistle. She seemed distracted, he thought with a confused frown. Bringing Flamberge to his midsection, he barely managed to block her horizontal strike with a vertical one, the swordsman back flipped to get a better vantage point and to collect his fragmented psyche. This wouldn't be worth learning unless she managed to hit him with it? Was that a compliment or an insult?

Knowing Estelle, it was probably a compliment.

Again, he was snapped out of his reverie by another attack from the pink haired princess in which, once again he just only fended off. Spinning the ball of his foot and lithely twisting his body to avoid another strike, Yuri retorted with his own offensive. Estelle blocked the attack and threw it off. For being trapped in a castle for the past year; that is, for not out doing jobs for the guild and facing monsters often, her swordsmanship had improved considerably. He was rather impressed.

But it's not like I've not improved.

Confident on ending this quickly and avoiding a drawn-out spectacle, the swordsman fluidly brought his blade down vertically, knocking her diagonal strike off target. Her expression remained unchanged, almost calculating of what his next move might be. It was interesting to see this side of her, Yuri thought as he threw the blade into the air and grabbed it with his left hand, then twisted his body for more impact in his horizontal strike. Only a few moments later did he realize his mistake.

She blocked the strike before it even happened, knocking his left hand away from his body and little to nothing to defend himself with. But before he could retract his arm and retreat, Estelle swiftly rammed her shield-clad left arm into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him off balance momentarily. Yuri knew that right at that moment, he was screwed.

The strikes came quickly, a diagonal right slash for his right shoulder; immediately subtracting over half of his fighting power; a swift horizontal slice to his left hip; restricting his movement and speed; followed instantaneously by a thrust to his stomach; an attack that may have done much worse damage than a simple stun. Luckily, Estelle caught the attack half-way and held the blade inches from his abdomen, stopping the onslaught in the nick of time.

She had got him.

Adrenaline still pumping through the both of their veins and beads of sweat crowning their foreheads, they remained at a standstill. Their eyes met, their breathing slowed and the two slowly retracted and sheathed their respective weapons. Standing in the middle of the garden, heads pounding and the high of the earlier excitement wearing off, the pair was silent for several seconds, before the both of them broke out laughing.

That had been a massive fail on both of their parts.

"How come every time I see you two together, you're laughing?"

"That's because we're making fun of you, Flynn." Yuri replied, his tone mocking, half gasping for breath as he looked up at the approaching commandant. Flynn looked every bit as regal and commanding in his new armor as one might expect. And the magnificent orange and purple sunset behind him helped make for a dramatic entrance Yuri thought with a smirk, before pausing and stopping in awe for a moment. The sunset...had he and Estelle really been together for that long?

It had seemed like no time had passed at all.

"We were not!" Estelle huffed, poking Yuri in the shoulder, scolding him lightly. But he paid little attention to her lecture, his mind was still alert and his heartbeat was still racing. He was still on an adrenaline high- to him, it seemed like she was glowing. Flynn's next words snapped him out of his adrenaline-induced haze.

"I already know, Lady Estellise." Flynn didn't seem offended, if anything, it seemed he had expected Yuri's abrasive statement. The commandant smiled wryly as Yuri too, straightened his posture besides Estelle." It was quite entertaining the way you outwitted Yuri." He said, and Yuri briefly wondered if his childhood friend was trying to annoy him.

"Yuri was kind enough to let me test a technique I had only read about on him," Estelle said, quickly coming to the swordsman's defense. Yuri and Flynn looked to her in surprise. Suddenly the center of attention, the princess cradled her right hand in her left nervously. Then, looking up to the commandant, the princess finished her statement. "I'm sure he wasn't fighting to his fullest potential. If this had been a real fight…"

Noticing her discomfort, Yuri figured he'd let Flynn's comment slide this time.

"If it had been a real fight, you would have finished me." Yuri interrupted, before any more damage could be done. He hadn't taken the battle seriously enough, and he should have known not to underestimate her by now. It had been rude of him not to take their sparring match completely seriously, even after Estelle had even asked of him to. But even so, she had stunned him and completed her technique, and that had been enough, He would have to swallow his injured pride for now.

Estelle and Flynn looked at him in surprise, although it didn't last long. Flynn's look of surprise turned into a knowing smirk and Estelle's morphed into a self-conscious smile as her face flushed a healthy crimson. Yuri managed to only thinly mask his desire to smack Flynn across his knowing, smirking face; scowling at his friend and sending him the mental message that he'd better be grateful that Estelle was there…

"That aside, I'm afraid I have to steal Yuri from you for now, Lady Estellise." Flynn finally ended the short stillness. He turned to the smaller woman and bowed politely, in which she returned the polite gesture.

"I understand, Flynn." Estelle spoke, the bit of her hair that wasn't up falling into her face. As they straightened up, Estelle looked regretfully towards the sunset, before turning back to the commandant with a strained smile, "besides, it's getting late," she clenched her hands together, glancing over back to Yuri, who stood back and allowed the formal exchange, "and I should be retiring for the night soon anyway."

Sheepishly, the commandant rubbed the back of his neck, messing up some of his golden hair and looked to the mossy stone pathway that threaded itself through the gardens in slight discomfiture, "I'm sorry for interrupting your time together, but…"

"Don't be," Estelle said, trying to soothe his discomfort, "if you hadn't, I wouldn't have gone to bed until midnight." Estelle laughed, a little embarrassed herself. Such behavior was uncouth, and for now she had to behave to the laws of the upper class. Yuri watched her, her last comment ringing a bell in his memory.

Midnight…

"Good night Commandant, goodnight Yuri." Estelle muttered, turning away from them and walking down the pathway, out of the garden. She glanced back, a look of thinly veiled disappointment on her face, before turning and heading into the caste, leaving the two men to their devices.

* * *

><p>"So what did you want to talk about?" Yuri began curtly, after he was sure Estelle was out of earshot, and not allowing Flynn to speak before him. He knew something was up if Flynn refused to speak of it in front of Estelle. It couldn't be good news.<p>

"I have suspicions about the council." Flynn, too, was curt. Yuri was unsurprised; the council did a poor job of hiding their intentions. Flynn's expression turned grim as he continued, his tone somewhat sarcastic while being completely serious, "And whenever there's something suspicious going on, you tend to somehow be involved."

Heh.

Flynn wasn't as dimwitted as Yuri had taken him for.

"And how do you figure?" Yuri said, trying to brush off his friend's notions, even if they were well-earned, much less correct. The swordsman glanced upwards from the grey and mossy stone pathway to se Flynn cross his arms across his chest. Yuri suddenly had a feeling that Flynn was about to corner him.

"I saw you eavesdropping on those members of the elite." The commandant began, frowning when Yuri flinched, obviously cornered now. "And then I saw you hiding from them." Flynn glanced over at the silent swordsman with a look of thinly veiled triumph as Yuri sighed in defeat.

"You got me." He shrugged, the tone of his voice almost nonchalant. Yuri stretched, closing his eyes and opening his ears. There was a slight rustle from his left, but that was just Flynn. It seemed like they were completely alone. He turned back to his friend, just in time to meet the commandants challenging, almost demanding gaze.

"Yuri, what did they say?" Flynn's tone was curious, yet nervous. Yuri didn't like this, this sense of urgency that seemed to roll off the commandant in waves. Flynn's rigid posture, his tense movements and hurried voice, it worried him. Just how much did Flynn know, and just how much trouble was the Empire in?

"Why you so interested?" Yuri said in an attempt to divert some of the anxiety, and in the process find out exactly what Flynn might know. He kept his ears open and eyes trained on the area behind Flynn in case of eavesdroppers. This conversation could take a turn for the worse and Yuri had a sneaking suspicion that it might. He didn't want anyone to overhear them, things could get really ugly.

"They've been suspicious as of late," Flynn began, then added, "more than usual, that is. Although they rarely have to show up in the capital, they've been here constantly since late last year." Yuri could understand how that might seem a little off- wait, late last year? Flynn didn't notice his friends discomfort and continued with a tone akin to annoyance. "They've kept Ioder and I busy constantly with all sorts of frivolous things."

"It must be tough being so popular." Yuri laughed, still trying to diffuse the tension- and his mind off of Flynn's comment about the start of the council's pesky interferences. His effort wasn't appreciated as Flynn turned to him, and with a tone of ice, hit home.

"I could say the same for you in regards to Lady Estellise."

"That has nothing to do with this." Yuri snapped, suddenly defensive. He didn't want her to get involved, if she wasn't already. The elite arriving in Zaphias around the time that Estelle was demanded to stay wasn't already sitting too well with him. Flynn, however, forged ahead into the territory that the swordsman so wanted to avoid.

"You think they'd really let her go?" Flynn muttered mockingly, turning away in frustration as Yuri tensed. "They probably plan to marry her off to some preapproved noble as backup incase Ioder dies off or is…overthrown." The sickening words spoken, Yuri caved and faced away from his friend. Flynn, surprised, looked up, not expecting the reaction from the swordsman. ""Yuri, is something wrong? You seem distracted."

"…this isn't the best place to discuss this." Yuri said, his tone gone cold as he and Flynn faced each other. They were in danger, too much danger, of being overheard here. If that happened, their suspicions and little knowledge they had wouldn't help them any.

"So you do know something." It wasn't an accusation so much as a statement. Darkness had finally fallen and half-bathed in the young nights moonlight, Yuri looked away as the full reality of what they were getting into struck him like the chilly night breeze. This was not going to be a pleasant experience.

"Not enough." Yuri replied, his eyes and ears still firmly trained on their surroundings, harder to do in the dark. It sounded like someone was approaching them from the gate, still too far to have overheard anything important. Flynn sighed, pleased with the implication that the swordsman was intent on finding out more.

"Fine," The commandant had sensed their imminent visitor, apparently. He turned from his childhood friend as he prepared to leave the gardens to avoid arousing anymore suspicion. "We'll talk about this later."

"That's a good idea."

* * *

><p>Sand stirred up by the wind would've got into any other travelers face or eyes, but not this one. Blonde hair whipped wildly in the fierce wind that was summoned around the plotting woman as gold eyes trained on the glowing lake narrowed in delight. Her red-headed companion looked to her in astonishment as the wind suddenly died, the sand falling to the ground, encircling the woman.<p>

"It looks like something is about to get interesting." She spoke, her voice shaking in delight. Maybe this world would be spared after all; the longer she remained entertained, the better. She closed her eyes and basked in the rosy glow from the water. "Yuri Lowell…"

What was she planning now?

Opening her golden eyes, she extended a tanned arm out over the water, inserting a mere finger below the surface. She spoke again, her face delighted and the tone of her voice ringing childishly cruel.

"This is what will happen, Lowell, this is your fate."

* * *

><p>I love Flynn... I hope I didn't mess Him, Yuri, and Estelle up too much. This chapter, like I mentioned earlier, was a tough chapter to write. I originally wasn't going to have Flynn notice, but, he's too smart not to pick up on things like this. If you have any comments or advice, please leave it in a review. Reviews are always appreciated.<p>

**"Only six more months, we only have six months until we can bring this plan to fruition!"**

**"Why are you doing this?"**

**"I'm...fine."**


	3. The Plot: Poison

Hi, I hope you all had a good Easter. For those who don't celebrate Easter, I hope you had a nice weekend. This was done sooner than I thought it would be!

I hope you enjoy it; the next installment will be updated by/before Friday.

Reviews and any criticism are appreciated.

* * *

><p>Avoiding the soft ground as to leave no evidence of his being there, Yuri Lowell surreptitiously, yet hurriedly, made his way through the darkened forest; bits of dew fell from the leaves of disturbed branches, pelting him gently and slightly wetting his clothing. He paid it little mind as he focused on the task at hand. If memory served correctly, Bluebell Meadow was just ahead.<p>

With a fond smile, he recalled the time Estelle had taken him there to hide from the Schwann Brigade. That had been the first time he had visited after Estelle had been bound to Zaphias. Instead of hiding, they had ended up walking and talking through the secluded meadow dotted in blue bellflowers that had just only bloomed. Estelle had more or less gleefully frolicked among the flowers in bloom in her little pink and yellow sundress laughing. He had watched for a good amount of time, amused, before she decided to tackle him and 'trick' him into a game of chase. They spent several hours together there and eventually, had been spotted by the Schwann brigade and fled.

Hushed voices greeted him, pulling him rudely from his memories, and he found himself darting quickly into the trees to avoid being spotted. He had thought bluebell meadow was further in –no- he had got carried away and had stopped paying full attention to his surroundings. Scolding himself, he slowly made his way up a nearby oak quietly. This is where it was going to get dangerous; he'd have to careful to evade detection. Failure to do so could mean his life.

The rough bark of the tree grated through his clothing as he settled deftly between three branches, making his seated position more uncomfortable than it already was. Doing his best to ignore that and his almost painfully tangled limbs, he stretched, leaning in as far as he could without further jeopardizing his cover, Yuri strained his ears to listen to the dim babble.

This wasn't any fun thus far.

"Are you sure no one is here?" It sounded like the nasally man he had overheard earlier with the men with the gravelly and biting voices. He sounded slightly nervous and Yuri didn't blame him. They were all treading on dangerous territory, and Yuri shared the slight sensation of edginess.

"Already checked the area." It was the man with the biting voice, who has also been at the castle earlier that day. If he remembered correctly, the man's name was Sutsycrof. Speaking of Sutsycrof, he was hesitating, listening in to his surroundings; suddenly worried, Yuri held his breath. A few seconds passed before Sutsycrof said to his companion "We should be good."

Yuri exhaled in relief.

"What are we meeting for?" A new voice that he had not yet heard, it was softer, yet commanding and pompous. From his oh-so comfortable position in the tree and with a slightly amused smirk, Yuri decided to call him Mr. Pompous for the time being. Mr. Pompous, unaware of his new nickname, continued his irritated banter." We have already discussed the plan of action!"

"I know, but you see, this is a revision-" It was Sutsycrof's words that arose from the incoherent mumble that the others spoke, placating Mr. Pompous's apparent displeasure in the –assumed- sudden and unexpected meeting. However, his attempt at placation was interrupted by another's excited howl.

"Only six more months," Mr. Nasal's voice pierced the night unpleasantly, and Yuri briefly thought that the man sounded like a rat. Maybe he should re-dub him as Mr. Rat? Amused briefly, Yuri made sure to focus once again on the annoying man as he continued his announcement, "we only have six months until we can bring this plan to fruition!"

Six months? Wasn't that a little soon?

"Don't forget, that's if nothing happens." A female voice? Were there any females in the elite? Confused for a moment, Yuri leaned back, forgetting that there was nothing to support him from behind. Tediously catching himself and balancing precariously on the edge of the branch he was seated on, Yuri prayed he hadn't made too much noise. Carefully re-positioning himself and making a mental note of the lack of branches to catch him in he fell backwards, he resumed his eavesdropping, fully aware that he had missed something.

Why was he sucking so badly?

"Yes, we need our backup to fully mobilize." Sutsycrof once again spoke up. Yuri assumed he was their leader by the way the clearing went silent when he spoke. Sutsycrof seemed to be speaking to the woman in conjunction to her former statement. "We have to be careful until our allies are ready."

Backup? Allies?

"Do you really think they'll support us that long?" Mr. Rat spoke up again, his voice conjuring a feeling of deep dislike and distrust. For whatever reason, his statement didn't seem to e so much a suspicion of their supposed 'backup' or 'allies', but more or less a statement to arouse unease. Yuri made an immediate mental note of the sensation; perhaps Mr. Rat had his own agenda.

"They'd have to." Sutsycrof spoke up again, this time he sounded a little stressed. Was the support of their 'allies' and their 'backup' really that questionable? If so, that is something that could be strategically played on in the right scenarios. Doubt between allies was advantageous to their opponent if knowledge was ever gained of the distrust.

"Not entirely," Mr. Pompous caught the attention of his fellow schemers, as well as Yuri's, with his contradicting statement. Yuri narrowed his eyes as most of the advantageous distress diminished with Mr. Pompous's continued account, "as our products are coming along quite nicely. With those, our backup is only preferred but not vital."

Damn it. Wait, what did he mean by products?

"Oh, so you mean…?" Mr. Gravel finally joined the conversation, his interest apparently sparked by the mention of whatever 'product' they were cultivating. He wasn't the only one curious, Yuri thought with a scowl, hoping they would elaborate on the subject.

"Yes, they've developed quite well." Mr. Pompous sounded, well, pompous. Yuri could tell from the way he spoke that the man was feeling quite smug in whatever the hell he had created. Now, if he would just go into more detail on it…Instead, he said something more informative to his peers rather than their unnoticed third party. "I've already had them ship the products to your estates."

Yuri started to wonder if he should be watching the spectacle. Being able to identify these men and women for something more than their voices might be beneficial. He stopped himself halfway through the thought- if he would be able to see them, they might necessarily be able to see him. It was too risky, and the swordsman was forced to settle for audio only.

"Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't been uncovered." The woman spoke up again, her voice deviously sensual. Her voice gave him goose bumps, and not the good kind. Yuri sensed that she was probably the most cold-blooded out of all of the elite. "It's been going too well." Her statement was much like Mr. Rat's, not due to her own worry but to arouse it.

"Enough of that!" Sutsycrof commanded, seemingly unworried. Yuri was impressed at his confidence, here he was planning to overthrow the government and yet he was as cool and calm as the night breeze. Maybe he didn't care if they got caught. "Remember the plan and stick to it."

There was a brief silence.

"After we get care of that blasted commandant and interfering guild," Mr. Gravel said, his booming and abrasive voice echoing slightly into the night. Apparently they had no qualms about how loud they were, Yuri thought, rolling his eyes. Had this been daytime, they would have been heard and stumbled on long ago. Besides, how did they plan to get 'care of' Brave Vesperia and Flynn anyway? Yet another question was left unanswered as the man plowed on arrogantly, "That foolish emperor will be a piece of cake."

"Quite true." Sutsycrof spoke up once again, leading the conversation. "First of all, we need to organize our own personal armies." Yuri nearly fell out of the tree with that statement; these guys were allowed personal armies? There was the root of the problem, what the hell had whoever allowed that been thinking? Due to his disbelief, he almost didn't hear Sutsycrof's continuation, "We can't allow ourselves to be overconfident-"

"And who even knows of this," The words so nonchalantly spoken by the female with the alluring voice floating on the wind, "and even if anyone did… what could they do to stop it?" The woman spoke smugly, nailing Yuri's thoughts as well. The Elite governed the council, who acted as the law, enforcing it through the army and, sometimes, through the imperial knights. The council would never convict them.

"If someone informed the commandant-" Mr. Pompous spoke, worried slightly by the prospect of such an event coming to pass. He was interrupted by the woman, who, to Yuri, seemed to be a tad conceited.

"We'd just have to kill him and the emperor sooner." Like her previous statement, this one was said without much care. It irritated him that she remained so unbothered during talk of murder and betrayal. The government was truly corrupted beyond salvation, Yuri thought with a scowl, his already sour mood worsening.

"That would be impossible." Sutsycrof announced, putting an end to his female companion's smug speeches, much to Yuri's relief. The more that woman spoke, the more aggravated he got and the more he wanted to do something reckless. Calming his anger, Yuri forced himself to follow the conversation- which was currently Sutsycrof. "We have the promise of an organized coup in exactly six months, no sooner, no later."

An organized coup? Yuri was unsurprised and unimpressed, he had already figured as much by now. All he wanted was the know-how on how exactly they were planning to pull this off. A thing like a coup wasn't exactly easy to pull off; they must've put a lot time and thought into planning this. At least, he hoped they had put a lot of effort into it; it would make the supposed rebellion all that more fun to ruin.

"You mean they won't change the plan willingly," The male with the abrasive, gravelly voice spoke again, his tone somewhat know-it-all. Now, who the hell was the 'they' that the elite constantly spoke of? They were making Yuri awfully curious, and creating more questions than they were answering.

"Exactly." The woman stated.

"Now, before we carried away again," Sutsycrof's arctic tone caught everyone's attention and cut off the woman before she could start. He then continued in an equally commanding fashion, "Remember the plan. After we organize our armies, we must slowly leak them into Zaphias without being noticed."

Were they stupid enough to believe that Flynn wouldn't be suspicious?

"The military won't do anything." The woman unintentionally answered Yuri's unspoken question, "I've managed to sway most of the management, so they'll keep the commandant busy." Yuri suddenly felt sick when she paused, then continued, her tone malevolent, "As for those who didn't agree, they are on a permanent vacation."

"What if they betray us?" Apparently, Mr. Pompous wasn't as trusting as his comrade. "If they betray us, it'll make it harder than it need be. Even with the product, there would be no guarantee that we would win!" Apparently, Mr. Pompous liked the odds to be in his favor.

"I'll kill any traitors myself." The woman sneered, her condescending laugh and attitude forcing a wave of nausea over the swordsman. "Remember, this is for the good of the empire!" The sickening words spoken, flowing like a lie, with only silence following.

Disturbed, the swordsman forced the bitter taste of bile in the back of his throat down. It seemed that woman was as every bit as cold-blooded as he thought she had been, and personally, he had heard more than enough and was more than ready to leave with what information he had. However, he knew that if he left now he could miss something vital, something he wouldn't want to miss.

"What of our product?" The tone Sutsycrof used to interrupt the brief silence was business-like. His comrades joined suite, switching from their tones of plotting, scheming and secrecy to a similar air of an official meeting of the council elite.

"They promised speedy delivery." Mr. Pompous spoke up again, attentive to Sutsycrof. Yuri grew irritated, waiting for them to elaborate but didn't expect them to. Just who the hell was the 'they' that was constantly referred to, it was obviously the 'backup' and the 'allies' they had spoken of…but who were they?

"And Brave Vesperia?" Suddenly alert when Sutsycrof mentioned the guild, Yuri paid close attention. His heart was racing more than it had been previously, and he knew that whatever they had planned for the guild, it wouldn't be good. He would bet his right arm that the woman would somehow be involved in it.

"They're the commandant's allies, remember?" Sure enough, the woman was the first to speak on the matter. And before she could even continue what she was going to say, Yuri knew his hunch had been correct as her tone took on that sarcastically pitying cadence, "They're said to be visiting in two months, unfortunately for them, they'll be in a horrible accident…"

"That'll take care of them." Laughter accompanied the statement, taunting and scornful everything that Brave Vesperia stood for.

Yuri bit his tongue as rage boiled in the pit of his stomach. These bastards were really planning on going the whole nine yards, weren't they? Just the thought of that woman harming any of the members of the guild was getting to him. They were more than capable of defending themselves, yet…

"The commandant will fall victim to a mysterious disease, thanks to the product," The woman laughed, her laugh as cold and vile as she was. Yuri almost snorted at their stupidity, Flynn was too stubborn to die from a sickness, as the woman sustained, "And the emperor will be easy prey without them."

"It'll be easy in the chaos to seize control." Sutsycrof continued from whence his feminine cohort left off, his words colder than her previous laugh. "With only that little princess left, we'll have authority to marry her off to someone of our pickings."

Damn, Flynn was right. He hated it when Flynn was right. Narrowing his eyes as fury tapped at his nerves, provoking his fingers to dance briefly over Flamberge as he lost himself for a moment, briefly wondering how hard it would be to hide the bodies. He could already hear Flynn yelling at him for even considering the notion, if only even a moment of insanity. Regaining his senses, Yuri forced full bodily control over himself before he did something incredibly stupid.

"We still need contact from Lord Leimer." Unaware of their eavesdropper's momentary sanity crisis, Mr. Rat had forged on ahead. Yuri was momentarily delighted, finally a name of someone who was definitely involved! He had started to loose hope of ever getting anything concrete out of this.

"He's already agreed to this!" Mr. Gravel and abrasive growled, sounding like a moron to Yuri. "He'd better not back out or else I'll…" Mr. Gravel's rant was interrupted, yet again by the woman. Yuri grimaced, not only was she heartless, but rude too boot.

"He won't back out." She chuckled, her mannerism cold as ever. "That's the last thing that Leimer would do." Yuri listened closely, curious to learn more about the only mentioned name that he had heard the entire time he'd eavesdropped on them. "He's way too interested in getting power."

"Yes, we need to integrate him into the castle routine." Sutsycrof said, and much like the woman, seemed too cold and detached. The others of the elite remained subserviently silent as he continued "He'll seem less suspicious as a noble."

Yuri bet that Leimer also happened to be the 'someone' that the council planned to marry Estelle off too.

There was a minute of unvoiced agreement. The moon lay low in the west sky, the reflected light from its surface no longer illuminating everything. The forest was completely still, except for the occasional owl hooting and creature scurrying about. The elite basked in the tranquility, until Sutsycrof finally spoke up in low tones.

"Its much later than I thought it would be. We must turn in for the night."

There was no resistance to his words; all of the elite were tired. Yuri felt a little drowsy himself, but he had no intention to fall asleep in a tree- much less the way he was sitting. He listened as the elite mumbled their parting wishes to one another, leaves crunching as they proceed to disperse themselves in the darkness of the woods, leaving Bluebell Meadow completely bare under the moonlight.

* * *

><p>Even long after the elite had left, Yuri remained seated in the tree. He would have to be sure that the elite had all left the area for good, and for the time being, the most he could do was wait. A few sounds rendered him attentive, and the swordsman reached inaudibly for Flamberge, his fingers brushing the handle. Calming his racing heart as a smaller beast scurried across the meadow; Yuri figured that the elite were truly gone. It was probably safe enough to come from his hiding place.<p>

Twisting the lower half of his body and throwing his legs over the edge of the branch, Yuri slid out of the tree somewhat clumsily. He stumbled upon landing and hissed in pain as his legs gave out on him completely. He fell to the ground with a definite thud; the noise echoed slightly, sending the little beast in the meadow scurrying off in terror. Yuri could've cared less; he was more concerned with his legs. Groaning in annoyance as he pulled himself up to a more seated position, he chastised himself for his stupidity. He should've known that sitting in the same position for hours on end would result in his legs falling asleep. Yuri ignored the jolt of pain in his limp and tingling appendages, instead trying to focus on more pleasant things.

After what he had been witness to, pleasant things sounded fairly pleasant

The crunch of leaves mixed in with the sound of the breeze, Yuri looked up in the direction of the noise, suddenly tense. Had one of the elite returned? He sure hoped not, running or fighting as he was currently would be awfully difficult. He scowled, gripping Flamberge's handle as the silhouette approached, stepping out of the woods.

Instead, a fairly tall feminine figure with flowing hair, illuminated by the moonlight, slowly ambled into the meadow. The second Yuri laid eyes on her; it was as if a lead weight had dropped to the pit of his stomach. His grasp on Flamberge weakened, the sword slipping through his fingers and down on to the dewy grass. His chest seized, a chill ran through his body, the sense of dread overwhelming his senses. He had to get away.

She turned to him, her features half hidden in shadow, glowing golden eyes trained on him. What little strength he had possessed left him the moment a haughty condescending smirk blossomed across her face. The woman slowly made her way over to where he sat. His brain wasn't working clearly, all the other thoughts he had previously had disappeared. Night now, only one thought was racing through his head, the one of escape.

"Are you going somewhere?"

Snapped out of his thoughts by a voice similar to trickling water, Yuri reclaimed control of his senses, regained control of his psyche. He knew that panicking would get him nowhere. Breathing in deeply and forcing his body to calm down, he ignored the millions of questions zipping around his mind and instead focused on the woman. Suddenly he realized that he had almost forgotten her earlier question.

"Yeah, away from here," Yuri replied, his voice rather raspy much to his own surprise. He had meant for it to sound snarky, but it didn't seem to come off that way. His strength was slowly returning to him, and he was already trying to figure an escape. The woman smirked as the wind picked up around them.

"Off to tell your little friend about what you saw?" It wasn't a question. Her smirk remained in place as she leisurely advanced on him, unable to move, Yuri watched her cautiously until she was just in front of him. Even so close, there wasn't much that could be distinguished about her, rather than the sense of terror.

"I didn't see anything." Yuri closed his eyes as feeling returned to his legs, his words completely honest. The tingling sensation was disappearing; his mind was becoming much clearer. He was in a disadvantageous situation, but, if he pulled this off right, he could yet make it out of this alive.

"Clever one, aren't you?" The woman laughed, her laugh ringing with almost a childish cadence. Yuri felt the sensations from when he had first saw her return with a vengeance. Beginning to feel cornered as her laugh was replaced by a look of malicious intent; the swordsman slowly pulled himself away from her. "Unfortunately, for you that is, I can't allow you to go tattle to your little friends."

Yuri growled, suddenly on the defensive. In a display of strength he didn't know he still possessed, he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled away from the woman. He was rewarded by a dizzying display of stars that sent him reeling backwards towards the tree he had hidden himself in just a while ago and into a sturdy frame.

Glancing over his shoulder in astonishment as the person behind him quickly restrained him; Yuri struggled briefly for moments that felt like an eternity, only to discover that his captor was rather strong. The man who held him in place was taller than he was with short and messy ruby tinted hair and a lack of an expression that made the taller male that much more frightening.

Looking back towards the woman, Yuri realized with an overwhelming sense of dismay that she was drawing closer, a demonic smile on her face. Her movements were relaxed, and her stride was unhurried, unworried. She didn't seem arrogant, more or less she possessed a confidence that most would only dream of. Yuri hissed in pain when the man behind him grabbed some of his hair and pulled his head back, exposing his neck to the woman who now stood just a bit away.

"What are you going to do, suck my blood?" Yuri hissed, this time in aggression spurred by his sudden understanding that he was beyond trapped. She laughed at him as she drew back her now glowing hand, and with a feeling akin to the one he had falling off Zaude, he realized he probably wasn't going to come out of this alive.

"Don't be crude, I'm no vampire." She chuckled, looking quite malevolent illuminated in the glow from her hand. Suddenly, she jabbed her hand forward, hitting the swordsman squarely in the chest, the light from her hand disappearing in a whirlwind into Yuri's chest. The glow remained on his exposed skin for a moment, before fading into his skin.

Everything went black.

* * *

><p>The red-headed male dropped the motionless swordsman, who fell to the hard ground like deadweight, unresponsive. The taller man kicked the motionless body, sending it flying half-way across the clearing, landing hard in the center of the meadow and rolling to the other end before remaining static. He turned to the woman.<p>

"You overdid it, Dea del Mondo." He growled in annoyance, running a large calloused hand through his unruly ruby hair. He started walking over to the body of the swordsman, his companion following, a childish pout etched onto her features.

"I didn't think he would die so easily!" She whined, in step behind the man, the wind now whipping wildly around her in a manner similar to an upset child. "Humans are too fragile," she muttered childishly, looking away to the moon. "I should have targeted the Krityan…"

The man rolled his blue eyes in exasperation at his companion's irresponsible antics, but said nothing. He had no desire to put her in a bad mood; he'd rather deal with her juvenile pouting than her wrath. Looking over towards the body, now just a few feet from where he and Dea gently advanced, he noticed that it was moving.

_The swordsman is still alive_. The taller male thought with a sense of pity as Dea del Mondo all but squealed in joyous delight and pranced over to where the young man lay, paralyzed. _Death would've been kinder._

* * *

><p>His body was screaming in pain, even if he wasn't. It was so intense that he had gone numb from the sensation, his eye sight was blurred, his hearing was muffled, and he had to force himself to breathe. But he was alive, for now.<p>

"Oooh goody, you're still alive." Her voice sounded enthusiastic, and he could see her fuzzy outline and blurry blond, messy hair, although it looked more like a finger painting by a child than a person. She sounded happy enough that he wasn't dead, so she probably was going to torture him to death.

"What did you do to me…?" Yuri forced out, his throat thick, barely recognizing the sound of his own voice. He remembered the light she had somehow forced into his body, the blinding pain before he had fainted, and her psychotic smile full of glee.

"It's a game!" She said charmingly, the wind in the clearing reduced to a pleasant nighttime breeze. Her male companion stood back, his face hidden in shadow. She hadn't answered his question, just opened up several more. That had been happening often recently. Yuri scowled as she continued, unaware. "Now you can't cheat or quit."

"Game?" He gasped, curious. What did she mean by game, as he was half dead and paralyzed from the pain she had inflicted on him herself. Also, cheating? Quitting? Where did she get off? Perhaps she was insane, powerful and scary as hell, but insane. She sighed; and he had the feeling that she was looking at him as if was some poor unintelligent animal. Her gesture was not appreciated.

"You kill my pawns before my curse kills you." The woman said, her voice starting to sound excited. Yuri did not like the sound of where this was going as her voice took on a puerile cadence. "If you fail, you die."

He wasn't going to die already?

"Who are your pawns?" Yuri pressed, the more he knew, the better off it would be. Killing her pawns for his life? Did she think he valued himself so much? He refused to do something so selfish. Even in his half-conscious state, he had already made up his mind. She seemed honestly surprised by his question.

"I hadn't thought of that" She murmured. She was coming into better focus, and he could see her turn away in deep thought, glancing at the moon. Then, as if she was aware of his previous thoughts, she turned back to him with a scheming leer on her face. "How bout the people you were spying on? The elite, that's what Sohtim called them if I recall correctly."

Shit.

"There's a lot more riding on this than just your life." The male spoke from behind the woman, his tone hard and cold.

His words were a spoken form of Yuri's thoughts as what little color in his face remained drained. The elite were targeting Ioder, Flynn, Brave Vesperia, and Estelle. Even with the feeling of lead sinking into his stomach at the realization that they had banded him for death, he could still tell Flynn what the elite were planning, he had no duty to fulfill that woman's wishes-

"Oh yes, you haven't realized it yet?" She laughed, interrupting his train of thought. Her words stopped him, had she done something else to him? Her tone rang clear across the meadow. "You'll figure out the rest later."

Why are you doing this?" Yuri struggled to say as she turned away, his consciousness now fading completely. Through his fuzzy vision, he could see her glance over her shoulder with a pitiless grin.

"Because I'm bored." Her words rang childishly cruel as his world faded out around him, and he was once again greeted by darkness.

* * *

><p>He was woken by the blinding light stinging his eyes, and he groggily raised a hand to shield his eyes to shield himself from the light.<p>

Where was he? He wasn't in the woods anymore…whatever he was laying on was far too soft and comfortable to be the hard ground he remembered passing out on. With his free hand, he grasped around him, his fingers brushing a cotton blanket and soft bedding. Confused, he slowly turned his head away from the light and adjusted his blurry vision to his surroundings.

He was in Flynn's room.

Why the hell was he in Flynn's room?

Estelle sat beside the bed, her head resting on the soft blue sheets, asleep. Her soft pink hair formed a halo around her head, moving with each gentle breath she took. Her lips were slightly parted. She looked like a sleeping angel.

How hard had he hit his head? Now he was just being cheesy.

"You're awake." Yuri looked up as Flynn entered the room carting his helmet, like he often did these days. He looked slightly relieved, and Yuri, frowning, wondered just how dead he had looked. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused as of why the hell, out of all the places I could wake up, I wake up in your room." Yuri muttered half-heartedly. His chest felt like there was a lead weight on it, although he knew there was no such thing. Even breathing took effort- what the hell had that woman done to him?

"Yuri…are you okay?" Flynn's tone was hesitant, setting his helmet down on his desk and walking over to his friend, taking care to avoid disturbing the sleeping princess. Pulling a chair to sit beside the injured swordsman, Flynn was ever considerate, having already picked up on his friend's condition.

Yuri hated him for it.

"I'm…fine."

Why did he lie?

* * *

><p><strong><em>"If you were able to tell me you would've done so already."<em>**

**_"I know that this is selfish, but please, promise me, Yuri, that when I am released from my duty, that we'll leave Zaphias together."_**

**_"I won't let you break Lady Estellise's heart by doing something stupid and getting yourself killed!"_**


	4. The Plot: Decisions

Ahhh! I'm finally done! This chapter was interesting to write. Also, let me explain something…

The genres of this story are: Romance, Drama, Mystery, suspense, Adventure, Action, and Angst.

Pairings: Yuri x Estelle, Flynn x Sodia, Karol x Nan, MAYBE some (teeny bits) Rita x Raven and Raven x Judith.

Maybe I should've done that from the beginning; anyway, please enjoy the final installment of part one, The Plot.

* * *

><p>"We couldn't find you anywhere, Lady Estellise was so worried."<p>

At Flynn's words, Yuri looked down the side of the bed to where the princess rested, her hands grasping the blanket. He felt a prickle of regret; he hated having her worry- much less about him. It wasn't a feeling as juvenile as a self-hate or anything; he just knew he tended to get into troublesome situations, and often.

Maybe it was a good thing they had been interrupted when he was going to tell her about the axe beak. He hadn't been hurt or anything, just a little -very- reckless. As entertaining as the story was, Yuri had no desire to add to her worries. The elite were doing a pretty good job of already making sure she had plenty of those.

"Actually, it was Repede that found you first…" Flynn said calmly, snapping Yuri out of his daze. At Yuri's confused look, Flynn smirked knowingly; much to his injured friends exasperation; before clarifying. "Some of the people of the lower quarter figured out he was trapped in your room, and let him out." Flynn stopped and chuckled for a moment, positively tickled to be the one to tell the swordsman the details of his search and rescue. "If he hadn't all but dragged Sodia into the woods while she was on her shift this morning, a monster might have got to you before we did."

Sodia saved him? Yuri thought with an expression that was a mixture of surprise, annoyance, and a little bit of disappointment. Now he'd feel obligated to loosen up his disapproving attitude towards her. But that didn't make them even. There was a better chance of surviving a night in the woods than being stabbed and falling god-knows-how far to your death. But Flynn didn't know any of that, at least, Yuri hadn't told him. He'd leave that to her.

"What, what were you doing out there anyway?" Flynn asked, puzzled when the swordsman said nothing about Flynn's previous words. Yuri tried not to laugh at his friend's expression. To Flynn, running off in the night to Bluebell Meadow was suspicious, and to say the least, rather silly. Yuri figured he must look like an idiot in Flynn's eyes. "And how did you get so beat up? That's some major bruising you have there."

Yuck. He did not want Flynn to go there.

Telling him he got the shit beat out of him by a woman was going to be rather demeaning.

Almost cowering under Flynn's steady glare, Yuri focused on Estelle's sleeping face. It'd be easier to tell her than Flynn…or would it? He mentally shook himself, the shame and nervous feeling wasn't going to go away the longer he thought about it. He opened his mouth to speak- to tell Flynn about the woman- when the wind was suddenly knocked out of him.

Yuri doubled over, coughing as an invisible hand squeezed his lungs. Blinding pain produced now-familiar stars before his eyes, and he reeled backwards into the bed. Able to breathe once more, he gasped for air like he had just swum to the surface after deep sea diving for clams. Flushed slightly from the sudden and unexpected incident, Yuri, now feeling rather faint, noticed Flynn's knocked over chair.

"Yuri!" His comrade was standing up, over him, an expression of worry etched onto his features. Yuri, gasping slowly now, took a good look at his comrade. The commandant looked a little stressed, his brown furrowed and mouth turned in a frown. Yuri smirked as an idea came to him.

"Keep looking like that and you'll get frown lines." Yuri rasped with a furtive grin. Flynn relaxed a little, although still quite tense, and the swordsman could tell that the wheels in the blonde's brain were turning. Yuri watched his friend turned away calmly to readjust the chair as his own heartbeat settled. What the hell had happened there?

His eyes narrowed as a sudden thought occurred to him, and for a moment, he again prepared to tell Flynn about the woman. Abruptly, it felt as though he had been punched in the stomach, all the air exiting his body in one fell swoop. Curling his body forward for a moment as the pain slowly ebbed away, he tried to think of a reason why he would react this way. Yuri blanched in horror when the realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

Oh, she didn't….

To again test his theory, the swordsman tried instead to speak of the council, the elite, and their plans. The moment he opened his mouth, he had the sensation of something burning in his torso. Trying to disregard to the stabbing sensation in his chest, he tried to speak, but he couldn't utter a sound. He kept trying though, not paying any mind to Flynn's look of bewilderment, to the point where he almost cried out in pain. Yuri growled and ignored Flynn's confused looks as the pain and the desire to talk ebbed away concurrently.

That bitch.

Whatever the hell she had done to him, she had ensured that he wouldn't speak of her, her friend, or the dammed elite and their dammed plot. Discounting Flynn's glance of concern, Yuri glowered, tightening his fists, scowl firmly in place, and his rage written clearly across his face.

She had made sure he'd play her little twisted game.

"I…I can't say." He muttered harshly, surprised that he was even allowed to speak those words. He had begun to wonder if he would be allowed to speak at all. Yuri, feeling a little sickened by the turn of events, tried not to think at all for a few moments and just rest. He barely noticed as Flynn's eyes widened in astonishment when the swordsman looked away from both him and Estelle.

"What?" Flynn muttered in disbelief. Yuri knew that Flynn knew that he was hiding something. Not like he could help it, though, Yuri thought briefly with a scowl as the commandant took a deep breath and settled down once again. He had always been frustratingly patient.

Silence.

Estelle moved slightly, catching both of the men's attention. Her eyebrows twitched for a moment, followed by her fingers. In a hushed mumble, she muttered something inarticulate, followed by a low breathy moan and a little squeak, before quieting down again.

"I don't know." Yuri muttered, the tense silence broken by the sleeping princess's innocent actions. His words drew the commandant's notice, and looking down at his hands blankly, Yuri wondered how the hell he could tell Flynn that he couldn't tell him anything? Just the thought of gave him a warning stab of pain in his torso.

Really, at this point all he wanted to say was 'A stupid bitch put a curse on me.' The retribution, although painful, was so worth it.

"Was it something to do with our suspicions?" Flynn questioned as he rested his elbows on his knees, completely unaware of Yuri's childishly entertaining thoughts. A look of horror swiftly dawned the commandants face, and aghast, he quickly asked his somewhat bemused ally, "They didn't catch you did they?"

"I'm not that careless!" Yuri snapped, annoyed. Out of all the scenarios for Flynn to imagine, why would that one have to be the first he spoke of? Annoyed, he didn't even think of the implications behind his wording until he noticed Flynn's somewhat satisfied smirk.

Wait a moment…

"So, it seems my accusation has some basis." Flynn muttered with a small smile in place, Yuri had also picked up on the peculiarity of the circumstances, and was getting a pretty good idea of what was wrong. Yuri didn't interrupt Flynn as he continued, his wording careful lest they have an extra ear, "At this point, I'm guessing that it was nothing important or you just don't wish to speak of this at this time."

Yuri, a reply already formulated that didn't give him twinges of pain when he thought about it, prepared to reply when Estelle unexpectedly stirred, a low groan alerting the conversing men that she was awakening. They exchanged a quick look, neither of them wanted to worry or endanger her.

"I see…" Flynn muttered, standing up slowly and, together with Yuri, glanced down at the slowly wakening princess. Yuri, not wishing to get her involved anymore than Flynn did, almost strained to listen to the commandant's whispered words, "I will speak with you on this later."

* * *

><p>She watched as he exited his room to give Lowell and Lady Estellise their privacy, and besides, he was done talking for now. His helmet was tucked safely under his arm, although he need not wear it; much less keep it with him here in the capital. He did anyway though, perhaps out of habit.<p>

Personally, she preferred him without it on.

She shook her head, focusing back on the commandant. He seemed rather worried, and a little stressed, his stiff movements told her as much. She frowned slightly, had Lowell done something to upset him again, or perhaps he was worried about leaving Lady Estellise alone with him….no, if that was the case he wouldn't have left at all.

"That idiot is going to get himself killed one of these days." The commandant muttered, exasperated, resting his forehead in the palm of his hand. His words were a mere statement, but it was enough to make her recoil in culpability. Unaware of the effect of his words, the blonde soldier turned to her, a small smile on his face. "Anyway, thank you for finding him."

"Commandant …" Her voice trembled a little. She had prepared herself for this for so long, why was it so hard to say? She needed to tell him now, before he trusted her too much and…when he learned the truth, he… Her words faded though as the fear of his hatred rose, how would he react to-

"Sodia…" Her name sounded so pretty when he spoke it, distracting her momentarily from her moral crisis. She looked up to his eyes, noticing how gentle they seemed as he beseeched her softly, his voice as kind as his eyes "Please, when it's just us, Flynn will do."

"But it would be improper in a work situation…" She countered almost instantaneously, her face flushing a light crimson in embarrassment, the fear from her dilemma fading slightly. He probably didn't realize that he was giving her puppy dog eyes, much less begging in general. Suddenly unable to say no, Sodia, still crimson, turned away and muttered in embarrassment, "As you wish, commanda-Fl..Flynn…"

It felt strange to call him that in the castle. She had managed it before, but it was hard to get out of the habit of addressing him by his title.

"Thank you, Sodia." She always felt so breathless when he smiled at her like that, and although part of her felt guilty that she had this part of him to herself, she had no intentions of sharing. He was speaking again, and ever the model soldier, Sodia listened conscientiously. "Now what did you want to tell me?"

Oh yeah.

She hadn't wished to recall her sudden bold decision. Taking a deep breath, Sodia turned away from him, remorse overwhelming her. How was she to tell him she had tried to kill his best friend?

"It has to do with Lowell…" It came out a little raspier than she had intended, and trembled more than she had hoped, forcing the feeling of nausea down, so forced herself to continue "… you see….I've done something horrible…" She was unaware that she gone white, her eyes dilated, and the fact that her body was quivering in apprehension. "I have to tell you…."

"Sodia, calm down…"He put a gentle hand on her shaking shoulder, temporarily alarming her. He didn't allow her to speak, taking the initiative himself and continuing his earlier statement, "I know that whatever happened, you're not ready to talk about it. Let the wounds heal."

He was commanding yet tender, and as much as she loved that part of him, in her guilty state, his words were like salt in the wound. She wanted him to yell at her, to tell her to tell him what the hell she had done. Yet, she didn't want him to ask her to tell him, because then she would absolutely have to inform him of her actions. And even so...

"It doesn't matter if I'm ready," She said harshly, small, almost unnoticeable tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She knew she wasn't ready, but did it matter? He had to know, she couldn't ever fully give him all she had to offer, she would always be hiding that from him. She didn't want that half-love. Furious at him for being so understanding, and at herself for being so weak, she pressed on, carelessly trampling over her own feelings. They weren't important. "I just need to tell you-"

A gloved hand covered her mouth gently as he pulled her closer to him. He treated her as though she was fragile, cradling her against him. This was highly improper conduct, although he didn't seem to care. He slowly removed his hand from her mouth, and planted his index finger against it instead, shushing her words.

"If you were able to tell me you would've done so already." He was too considerate, his actions and words were too perfect. Did he already know? Finally, after what seemed to be several minutes but was merely a few seconds, he removed his finger from her lips. "Think about it a bit longer, okay?"

"Lowell…told you?" She asked quietly, guiltily. If Lowell had told the commandant, she would have every right to be punished. The weak part of her hoped that Lowell had told him, and then she wouldn't have to. She tried her best to ignore her morbid wish, and instead focused her attention where it should have been located.

"No." The word had never sounded sweeter than when he said it with such honesty and she felt disgusted with herself for wanting to sigh in relief. Flynn continued with a small smile as she looked away uncomfortably. "He said that you had to tell me."

Go figure.

"…understood…" She muttered. As much as she hated herself for it, he was right, she was still not mentally prepared enough to tell him about what happened at Zaude. She loved and hated him for stopping her, and she hoped and yet she didn't, that when she finally did tell him, he would one day forgive her. In the meantime… she would have to bear the burden, hating herself for letting him love her.

The commandant, now unaware that she was still watching him, smiled to himself slightly, and she wondered if he was thinking about her. Disgusted with herself for the pleasure she derived at the thought; she turned around, bright red.

She pretended not to see him when he blushed lightly, and brought his index finger to his mouth.

* * *

><p>Yuri watched Estelle as she slowly roused from her sleep, he smiled fondly, thankful that Flynn had given him this much privacy. He had fully expected the commandant to stay just to spite him, or something of the like.<p>

Estelle's eyelashes fluttered for a moment, dusting her rosy cheeks, before fully opening her eyes. For a moment, she looked blank, dazed and confused. She looked around the room for a minute, as if she was uncertain of where she was. Finally, her eyes rested onto him, and a split second later, she was fully awake.

She was so cute.

"Yuri!" She threw herself at him, arms wrapping around him instantaneously and burying her face in his chest. Unprepared, Yuri toppled over back onto the bed, his hair splaying out behind him, her on top of him. Jolts of pain traveled through his body, making his finger tips tingle.

"Whoa, Estelle!" Yuri yelped, his eyebrows furrowed together in pain. Estelle slowly pulled away from him, although he half-wished she wouldn't, her expression displaying her blatant confusion. Had she forgotten why he was there? Suddenly her eyes widened as the memories dawned on her.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Estelle said nervously, completely climbing off him. He sort of wished she wouldn't, he had rather enjoyed the feeling of her pressed against him. But he could've done without the residual ache from his wounds. He noticed Estelle bite her bottom lip in concern, and briefly felt like beating himself over the head. He hated it when she was worried, he'd rather have her smile than frown. He thought she looked better smiling. "How did you get those injuries?"

Out of all the questions she had to ask…

Then again, it was only natural that she'd be curious. But how the hell was he supposed to answer that question…? If he couldn't tell Flynn, he highly doubted he'd be able to tell her; and even if he did, she would only worry more…

And she'd be in danger.

His eyes widened as the realization sunk in, the woman's words ringing in his ears. He couldn't warn any of them about the coup or that woman, they were all going to die unless he did something. His heart wouldn't slow down, his head was spinning and he didn't realize that his fists were trembling. They would all die, Flynn, Karol, Judith, Rita, Raven, and maybe even Estelle…

That is, unless he did something about it.

"I…" Yuri began calmly; his voice betraying no emotion as he kept his eyes firmly trained on his calloused hands. Estelle watched him curiously, wanting to know his answer, her eyes firmly trained on his face. Yuri wondered briefly if there was something on his face, but pressed on anyway. "…fell out of a tree."

Well, he had fallen from a tree, so it was a half-truth.

Estelle said nothing and kept her eyes firmly trained on his face. He met her eyes curiously, and they held the contact. Her eyes were beseeching, but at the same time resolute. Knowing she didn't believe him and feeling slightly guilty about his half-lie, Yuri broke his gaze.

"So why am I in Flynn's room?" He changed the subject, looking around his childhood friend's room inquisitively. Flynn's room hadn't changed much since his time as a captain; there were a few more awards and a new decorative sword on display on the top of his dresser, but other than that, the room had remained the same.

That was just like Flynn.

"Flynn didn't trust to put you in the infirmary…" Estelle answered, but Yuri knew she'd ask him again later. Was he really that bad of a liar or had he arrived at the point of predictability? "…besides, it's not common knowledge your even here right now." Her words shocked him, yet, at the same time, he had somewhat expected it. "He has asked Sodia and I to keep quiet about your being here…"

"Huh." Was his simple reply, but his mind was in overdrive. Flynn was being rather cautious, and he realized with a twinge of irritation that Flynn had already known what he had been up to, the conversations from earlier had been a test of sorts.

That asshole.

"Uh, Yuri, what's that on your chest?" Estelle asked tentatively, her small hands fisted in her lap as she sat down on the bed beside him. Close to him. He shook his head; he was not going there right now. Instead, he wondered what she meant; did he have something on his chest?

"Hmm?" Yuri answered her, looking up lazily at her. She looked concentrated, her eyes focused solely on a point below his collarbone. He smirked when he saw her eyes flicker for a moment, a rosy blush dusting her cheekbones and, rather smugly, he questioned her thoughts; what exactly was she thinking about…?

No, he wasn't going to go there.

"There." Estelle poked his chest, just underneath his collarbone. He tried to glance down for a moment to see it, but quickly figured out that that idea would not work. Estelle giggled, pulling a mirror out of her pocket. Yuri was inquisitive as of why she would have a mirror in her pocket and opened his mouth to ask. Then, he recalled Flynn once telling him that he didn't understand women…

He followed Flynn's advice and did not ask.

"…A bruise I would assume." Yuri replied with a little laugh as she held the mirror. There was a small, yet prominent red mark underneath his collarbone, exactly where Estelle had nudged him. It was relatively harmless looking, much like a six pointed star. Even when all common sense was telling him those things, he still got a slight chill glancing at it in the mirror, and although he would never admit it, he was thankful when she pulled the mirror away.

"It's an odd shaped bruise." Estelle countered with a slight pout as she pocketed her mirror. Yuri briefly speculated, maybe Estelle too, like Flynn, was suspicious of the circumstances of his wounds. It wasn't undeserved or anything, but the swordsman was more than aware of that already.

"Yeah, I guess." Yuri agreed, although he said it like it wasn't a big deal; not that it was, but he could tell Estelle was really concerned. Feeling sort of like a jerk, Yuri glanced away uncomfortably. He hated to spark her concern, much less put it down like he was doing at the moment…

"Yuri…?" Her voice was sweet and hesitant, and finding that he could no longer avoid her gaze, he looked back at her. Her eyes were inquiring yet fearful, did she think he was going to say or do something horrible to her?

"What is it, Estelle?" He asked, softening his voice like he typically did whilst speaking to her. She was different than the others, and for whatever reason, he always felt the need to speak to her tenderly…oh who was he kidding, he knew why he spoke to her this way…

"I know that this is selfish, but please, promise me, Yuri, that when I am released from my duty…" She spoke mellifluously, fretfully twisting her hands in her lap, eyes trained firmly on them. What could she be so troubled over? Abruptly, she looked directly into his eyes, "…that we'll leave Zaphias together."

Yuri was noiseless for a bit, his face blank as he recorded her words firmly into his memory. As much as he wanted to smile and tell her 'yeah' and 'I'll wait for that day', in the light of the recent events, he knew he could no longer make that promise. He had already made his decision.

"I promise." The words were spoken with absolute sincerity. His response prompted a big smile from Estelle and she threw her arms around him, taking care not to hurt him. She was happy, she was holding him closely. But he felt sickened with himself;

Why did he make promises he couldn't keep?

* * *

><p>Moonlight poured through an open window, illuminating the spacious room in a soft sapphire glow. The nighttime breeze drifted lazily in, flipping through the pages of an open book on the desk opposite from the princess's bed.<p>

The glow flickered for a moment as a shadow figure crawled in through the window, stealthily entering without a sound. The figure was that of a man with long, flowing hair as dark as the moonless night.

He walked beside the princess's bed, casting a shadow across her lavender sheets that reflected a bluish shine in the moonlight. He stopped suddenly at the headboard, his obsidian eyes trained downwards on the sleeping princess's face.

A bitter smile surfaced, his hand slowly rose to cup the side of her face. His bitter smile disappeared when she turned her face into his palm in her sleep, an innocent smile on her sleeping face. His blank expression faded, replaced by a hint of melancholy.

"Estelle…" He whispered, leaning closer to her face, his breath caressing her skin. He had never been this close to her, and he found his eyes drawn to her full, slightly parted, and rosy lips. An anguished smirk graced his features as he uttered in a low breath, "Allow me to be selfish one more time."

He bent forward, his lips touching hers lightly, a feeling of bittersweet excitement coursing through his body. The feeling of her silky lips on his, the sense of loving her…no, he couldn't get sidetracked. He pulled away regretfully, a light flush on his cheeks, his hand still cradling her face.

"I'm sorry…" He said in a low voice, remorsefully withdrawing his hand from her face. She shuddered at the loss of contact, and her hands twitched slightly towards him. A shadow passed over her, hesitating for a moment at the window…

Then he was gone.

* * *

><p>"And where do you think you're going?" The commandant's gentle, yet stern voice snapped the swordsman to his senses. He turned to face Flynn on the steps that led down to the noble's quarter, apprehension already dawning upon him as Flynn continued, "You're still injured."<p>

"I'm fine; it's just a couple of bruises." Yuri shrugged, not facing the commandant. He spoke quietly and honestly, wishing to end the conversation as soon as he could. What the hell was Flynn doing up at this hour anyway? "I'm not up to anything, this time I'm just on my way back to the lower quarter…"

"…in the middle of the night, after paying a visit to Lady Estelle's room?" The commandant said pointedly, narrowing his eyes protectively, crossing his arms over his chest in mild annoyance. Yuri mentally groaned; go figure the commandant would bring up the one thing Yuri did not want him to mention.

"Nothing happened." The swordsman half-lied, He wouldn't call osculation nothing; but Flynn really didn't need to know about that, did he? Yuri glanced back at the commandant and cringed. The look the blond was giving him was a promise of instant death should he be lying. Yuri was consequently grateful that Flynn couldn't read minds.

"It better not have." Flynn growled over protectively, and Yuri realized that his childhood friend didn't really believe his statement. Uncomfortable with Flynn glaring a hole in his back, Yuri mad his move to leave when the commandant spoke up again, "Yuri, you're going to do something stupid, aren't you?"

Although that wasn't the way he would've worded it, he hated it when Flynn figured things out like that.

"It's the only way." He hadn't meant to sound so depressing, but the words rang true. He knew what he was going to do, and as much as it sickened him, he had no intention of turning back now. What he wanted and what needed to be done were entirely different things.

"Why can't you just tell me what happened?" Flynn shouted, causing more noise than the swordsman cared to make. Apparently the commandant didn't entirely get the situation. Yuri was disappointed; he had thought that maybe the blonde had figured it out by now. The swordsman turned to face Flynn as he said in frustration, "What did you hear?"

"I can't." Yuri replied, hoping for once that Flynn would be able to figure out the circumstances quickly. This must how it felt to be a girl with their silly little mind games, never saying what they were really thinking. As much as the thought amused him, the severity of the situation kept him from being entertained for long.

"Very well, I see you've made up your mind..." Flynn closed his eyes, and Yuri temporarily questioned if he would be allowed to leave. The thought was broken seconds later as Flynn opened his sapphire eyes, meeting Yuri's obsidian ones, exclaiming passionately, "However, I'm afraid I won't let you break Lady Estellise's heart by doing something stupid and getting yourself killed!"

Before Yuri could counter, the commandant was in front of him. The swordsman looked in astonishment as Flynn forcefully thrust his shoulder into Yuri's already injured chest, prompting a yell of pain, and yelled out a fierce battle cry.

"Beast!"

Yuri flew a few good feet, landing on his back rather violently on the stiff earth. Already agony from his previous wounds, Yuri really didn't appreciate the additional bruise that the blond had inflicted on him. Snarling in the back of his throat as he sat up, Yuri reached for his sword. It was so on now.

Flynn charged as the swordsman stood up and prepared himself for the blow that was to come. Recognizing the commandant's wide stance and the way he drew back his arm, Yuri easily swiped away Flynn's sonic thrust, leaving him wide open.

The swordsman slashed at that moment, bending his body low before throwing his sword up in the air as he spun his body, kicking at Flynn's open stance as he did so, before catching his sword in his opposite hand and slashing once more. Flynn staggered backwards, feeling the painful effects from Yuri's dragon swarm.

Luckily, for Flynn that is, most of Yuri's attacks had only grazed the surface, mostly tearing at his clothing, although there were a few scratches across his chest now. And Yuri's kicks were not insubstantial by any means. As Flynn quickly raised his sword to block Yuri's next onslaught, the two crossed blades.

Now it was a test of strength.

Yuri grunted slightly as Flynn pressed even harder against him, he had forgotten just how strong Flynn really was. Also, those wounds that he had received from that woman and that had just been agitated by Flynn really weren't helping matters.

There was a tickling sensation around his collarbone, the tickling sensation turned to ice and suddenly shot through his body. Tingling from the ice-cold feeling, Yuri felt his mind rapidly go numb as all feelings began to wear away…

In an explosion of power, Yuri overpowered Flynn, tossing his friend a few good feet back. Thoughtlessly, Yuri drew back his blade, already preparing for the next moment for an opportune strike. Flynn, however, surprised from the rapid movement, inelegantly stumbled slightly backwards.

Regaining his footing, Flynn looked up in time to see Yuri's face just inches from his as the swordsman rammed Flamberge's hilt into his gut. The commandant doubled over, coughing in pain as the pommel of the sword dug into his abdomen.

"Yuri …" He gasped, blinding pain traveling through his body. Yuri watched, his eyes blank of emotion as a morbid thought came to light; perhaps he should finish Flynn off now. He was snapped out of his sinister train of thought when Flynn fell to his knees, coughing violently.

"Flynn…you were right." Yuri said, his voice trembling slightly. He ignored the sudden powerful ache in his chest as Flynn weakly glanced at him. Yuri didn't want to look at Flynn, defeated like that, by someone other than him.

Flynn groaned, before falling forward. Yuri turned in curiosity, he knew he had hit him pretty hard, but that shouldn't have knocked Flynn out, what was he now days some spoiled little palace knight that had never been in a fight? The swordsman's eyes widened in alarm as a small pool of blood formed beside the commandant.

Yuri quickly looked down in horror at his weapon, the hilt, and his hand, covered in Flynn's blood.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Yuri…did this to you?"<strong>

"**Comman-Flynn, I overheard something interesting…"**

"**Lady Estellise is to be married to Lord Leimer!"**

"**I've really fucked up this time, Repede…"**

"**I'm sorry Flynn, but I will not let other people decide my life for me."**

**Part Two: The Separation: Choices**


	5. The Separation: Choices

A/N: ... ... ... It's very late... ... ... I'm sorry! Sorry sorry sorry! I was playing Tales of Vesperia and I got distracted and- oh...wait, does no one care? Okay then, I'll go ahead and present the chapter which I :hurriedly: finished. Personally I :don't: like how it came out, but I was already late. I'll revise it before I update again. Please forgive my lateness!

* * *

><p>Estelle darted through the hallway, gasping in short, hurried breaths. She ignored the panicked, irregular heartbeat as she skidded to a stop outside the modest infirmary entryway. Her hand trembled as it wrapped around the cool bronze handle, before ripping the wooden, gold plated door open.<p>

Light flooded from the wide, open room. It was a room longer than it was wide, beds lining the lengthy section of the wall. Between each bed was a tall arched window shrouded in white curtains. The floors were white marble, the white walls adorned with several golden columns that loomed over everybody. Flynn lay on a bed near the door, completely unconscious, his vice commander sitting loyally beside him.

Sodia whipped around, her hand on her weapon. Flynn lay nearby on the hospital bed, sleeping and bandaged, but alive. His skin tone was a little paler and he looked as if he was in pain. Sodia, in turn, seemed stressed, slight dark circles forming underneath her violet eyes. Her hair was a mess, not even in its usual braid. Sodia dropped her guard when she saw that it was only Estelle, allowing the distraught princess to race past her and over to the comatose commandant.

"Flynn!" Estelle cried, leaning over him slightly. "Flynn, are you alright? What happened to you?" She felt his forehead, gently brushing aside the commandant's bright blond hair in concern. He wasn't running a fever, but instead he had a cold sweat. It wasn't horrible news, yet it was hardly good new either.

"Please calm down, Lay Estellise." Sodia spoke up before Estelle could do much more. The princess looked over her shoulder as the other woman pulled her lightly away from the unconscious Flynn. Sodia was worried too, and Estelle felt briefly guilty, it had been rude of her to act as if she were the only one affected.

"But, Flynn…" Estelle muttered half-heartedly, wanting nothing more than to help, although there was only so much she could do. Abruptly, Yuri's face cam to mind and the princess smiled slightly to herself, her posture and psyche calming. But, she rapidly realized that Yuri was probably unaware of Flynn's injuries. Estelle quickly shot up, starting Sodia. "I have to go tell Yuri!"

"That won't be necessary." Sodia growled, surprising the princess and halting her movement. Estelle glanced over her shoulder, a sudden feeling of dread curling in her abdomen when she saw Sodia. The woman was shaking slightly, her fists clenched in fury, and her features rigid.

"What do you mean?" Estelle asked, her voice quavering slightly. Whatever news Flynn's assistant had, it seemed it couldn't be good. The princess turned around completely, facing the other woman. Estelle held her in unsteady hands together as to quell their trembling, her posture drawn in and worried as the coffee haired woman bit her lip and looked away.

"Lowell...he's…" Her tone of voice was softer than it had been, and she avoided the princess's eyes in shame, no, it couldn't be shame… was it pity? Confused as Sodia avoided her eyes, Estelle felt as though the world had dropped away from beneath her as she realized what the other woman might be implying.

No, it couldn't be!

She didn't remember running out of the infirmary, but the next thing she knew she was darting across the halls, the floors flying beneath her feet. She didn't realize just how fast she was flying down the halls as she ducked, dodged, and darted around the other personnel in the hallway. Estelle didn't even see them as she skidded around a corner and down into Flynn's hallway.

Yuri was still pretty beat-up, he should still be there. There's no way he should be moving just yet… She threw open Flynn's door, fully expecting to see Yuri there, sleeping peacefully, or sitting up, awake, even just about to leave- anything!

Estelle was greeted with silence and an empty room. Flynn's bed was neatly made, his curtains pulled tidily back, allowing in sunlight, and the room was completely Yuri free. She felt the troubled feeling rise up again, this time tears threatening to surface. No, Yuri just wasn't here, that's all, he was just somewhere else in the castle…

She ran back through the halls, checking everywhere she could for him; perhaps he had already heard about Flynn, and wanted to go check on him, yes that had to be it! Estelle attempted to quell her panicked thoughts as she once again checked the sanatorium, trying her best to ignore Sodia's pitying look.

Estelle was about to run off to the garden when out of nowhere, she felt a hand on her wrist. Was it Yuri? Her heart fluttered slightly as the impossible yet utterly wonderful thought as she twisted her head to look over her shoulder. Her hope plummeted when she looked only to see the coffee haired woman holding her in place.

"Please, calm down." Sodia murmured, and as if she knew what the princess had been planning or perhaps merely being cautious, moved in front of the door. Estelle stood, her body shaking. She wasn't going to cry, there was a probably a perfectly rational explanation for all of this and she was just blowing it out of proportion…

"B-but…" She blubbered; trying to calm herself wasn't something she thought she could do so easily. An almost sickening thought hit her, maybe this was a joke, and maybe Yuri was playing a joke on her? If he was, he was in big trouble…or possibly he was hurt even worse than Flynn was, or-

"Lady Estellise, he's no longer in Zaphias." Flynn's voice pierced the tense atmosphere, interrupting Estelle's train of thought. The princess and the coffee haired woman turned to him in amazement as the stubborn, or incredibly stupid, commandant pulled himself up into a seated position. Sodia rushed forward first as Estelle stood alone, still.

He was gone? Yuri was gone?

"Commandant, you shouldn't speak!" Sodia exclaimed, situating herself right next to him and glancing at his bandaged wounds. Estelle watched her, although Sodia wasn't a healer, she seemed to know what she was doing. That aside, Estelle's mind was slightly numb, was Yuri gone? Had he had to leave for the guild? Was it an emergency?

"I'm fine." Flynn reassured the other woman gently, although he looked quite the opposite. His face was pale; he looked sickly, and had long ago broken out in a cold sweat. He looked a little disconcerted, and Estelle assumed he was feeling very light headed from the way he was holding his palm to his forehead.

"Flynn, what do you mean he's no longer in Zaphias!" Estelle shouted, surprising Sodia and the injured Commandant, as well as herself. She ignored the fact that tears were starting to fall; something was wrong, really wrong. She just knew that something had gone wrong; he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, he wouldn't…

"He left last night or early this morning…" Flynn spoke softly, looking at her sympathetically as she fisted her small dainty hands at her sides. He understood just how much Yuri meant to her, and continued to answer her unspoken inquiries- much to the distressed princess's gratitude. "I don't remember what time it was when I stopped to speak with him, but…"

"Commandant, what were you dong up so late…?" Sodia's question was similar to the one Estelle had. What had the commandant been doing up so late? His duties woke him early in the morning and sent him to bed late- but not in the middle of the night. Flynn blinked, as if he was surprised by the question.

"Oh, I was just checking something and last track of time. Then I saw Yuri leaving…" He was lying, both Estelle and Sodia could tell, yet, they remained silent. There had to be a good reason Flynn would lie to them, or he wouldn't bother in the first place.… "And then I…"

Flynn went silent.

Estelle numbly pieced things together, as she finally figured out what had occurred. No…Yuri…had he done this? She gulped; her throat parched as she looked at Flynn's injuries, then to his concerned second in command. She understood now why Sodia had seemed vexed earlier, getting irate when Yuri's name had been mentioned. But had he really…?

"Flynn…" Her voice was clear, like a bell, yet lacking a sweet cadence, being satiated of a more commanding and stern tone. She hid her face, instead looking at her feet, hoping that somehow it would ease the blow of whatever the commandant might tell her as she finished her dreaded statement. "Yuri…did this to you?"

The concurring silence was her only answer.

* * *

><p>The princess had taken her leave after a silence that had stretched for what seemed forever- summoned by the elite with what Flynn doubted could be good news. Although she had only left minutes ago, the silence between him and his second in command was suffocating- he knew she knew he had lied to her and Estelle.<p>

He bet she was pretty bothered by that.

"Sodia, what were you doing up so early this morning?" Flynn couldn't bear it any longer, turning to look at her as she looked back at him with a look of shock. Had she not been expecting him to be curious? She was the one who had found him, after all… "If what you told me earlier was true, then you'd have had to arrive just after Yuri left…"

She didn't reply for several moments, instead looking out the nearby window, the wind ruffling her messy hair. She closed her amethyst eyes, relaxing for a moment. Perhaps she was willing away her annoyance? Flynn waited patiently, curious of her answer to that- had she also been suspicious of something- perhaps, the Elite?

He shook his head firmly, no, he would not have her involved in this- it was already bad enough with just him and Yuri. His friend had already managed to get himself into quite the mess as it was, the commandant didn't dare think of what might happen if yet more people became involved.

"He sent the dog." He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear her; the sound of her voice snapping him out of his musing and drawing his attention back to her. He had expected as much, but yet, however, for a reason he couldn't fathom, her words were still rather shocking.

So, it seemed like Yuri had sent Repede to Sodia- which meant that the nice little puncture in his side wasn't intentional. Not that Flynn had ever thought it would be, but these days he could never be sure. Sighing as the breeze caressed his face, he turned his face into the pillow, missing the halcyon days from before.

However, Yuri couldn't just let peace be- and the moment he ad returned to the capital they were in yet another mess. Yes, he had suspicions about the council for a while now, but did they really need to- to do whatever Yuri was doing? Flynn opened his eyes into the fluffy white pillow, his mind reeling.

Accidentally nudging his injury, the commandant flinched in pain, not doing so well at ignoring it. He would have to properly thank the swordsman for the little injury later, Flynn thought with a scowl. He was angry at him, yet- but he was beginning to realize that somehow, Yuri had messed with powers beyond his or anyone's control.

To say that the swordsman had been acting rather peculiar would be putting mildly. Like lady Estellise had mentioned before, he wouldn't leave the capital the way he did, without saying goodbye and attacking the commandant…

Okay, so Flynn had provoked him a little.

And attacked first.

While having no real reason to try and restrain him…

Ignoring the flaws of his normally impeccable planning, Flynn tried to recall the battle between him and his friend. It had been rather quick, only a few blows had been exchanged. Beast, Sonic Thrust, Dragon Swarm…then somehow, Yuri had suddenly overpowered him in a demonstration of a brute strength that Flynn had never encountered before from the swordsman.

And, at that moment when Yuri had thrust the hilt of Flamberge into his stomach, and before the pain had fully registered to the knight, Flynn had seen eyes that did not belong to his friend. Eyes so dark, evil, and devoid of any thought other than the one to kill.

Even Cumore and Ragou hadn't inspired a reaction quite like that- there, in Yuri's mind, he had been delivering justice. Here, he had simply been fighting off a stubborn commandant who- for Lady Estellise's sake- wouldn't allow him to leave with wounds like the ones he possessed. And last time Flynn checked, he hadn't gone on murdering innocent people…

Of course, such a theory would mean that at that moment, Yuri had no control of his body. And that wasn't possible, was it? A more logical explanation might be that he simply got carried away by the excitement of the fight and hadn't been thinking at the time; yet Flynn doubted hypothesis as well.

Whatever it had been, he remembered Yuri's last words to him before he had blacked out, but even so the commandant was still confused. What had he been right about? What had he managed to get right in the tangled web that was his thoughts? Why hadn't Yuri been, if even just a little, more clear?

Oh yeah, he said he couldn't.

That aside, at least he now knew one thing; one, that the council was definitely up to no good, and two, that he was not being paranoid. It wasn't much to go on, but Yuri always seemed to be a few steps ahead of the game and always seemed to know about these sorts of things.

"Commandant…" Yet again she disrupted his thoughts, but he wasn't irate, yet rather grateful. The dark thoughts had been taking a toll on his stamina, draining him of energy the longer and more he thought on it. He glanced at her, feeling somewhat amused as Sodia, as businesses-like as ever, asserted herself respectfully.

"Sodia…" He reminded her playfully, trying his best not to laugh at the look of exasperation that danced across her features due to his… frivolity in the light of the current situation, perhaps? Maybe it would do him some good to take this a bit more seriously, it could be grave news.

"This is the not the time…" Sodia said with a huff. She grew quiet, glancing around and making sure that the doors were close. Then, nonchalantly and inconspicuously as possible, she checked the hallway and shut the windows. Now Flynn was really curious as she turned back to him, getting right to the point. "Comman-Flynn, I overheard something interesting…"

* * *

><p>She was shaking.<p>

Did they still frighten her that much?

Estelle gulped for a moment to ease her fluttering anxieties, placing a hand over her thumping heart, her fingers grazing the fabric of the scoop neck white sundress, patterns of interlinking pink camellia's decorating the waistline. It wasn't the most formal dress, so Estelle was surprised they didn't make her change into something more proper.

She didn't know why she had changed into the dress this morning instead of the baby blue one that the servants had left out for her. For some reason, this simple dress of white and pink had appealed to her more than the lacey blue dress with the yellow poppy patterns decorating the waistline. It had seemed such an innocent choice at the time.

Now she thought it was sort of ironic.

The door before her opened, rudely awakening her from her thoughts as the council's courier stepped out to see her, his straw-colored hair plastered to his forehead and skin as pale as the moonlight. He looked very gaunt and rather frightening, yet the princess knew it would be rude to recoil in the man's company.

If Yuri were here he would've probably made a crack about how the man looked like a zombie.

She bit her lip, suppressing her clashing emotions as she ambled through the gold-plated doorway and into the dimly lit debate floor of the Council Elite. The guard bowed and Estelle bowed back. The guard then softly stepped outside the room into much needed sunlight.

_Here's to hoping he doesn't melt_. Estelle thought with a small smile, that's probably what Yuri would've said. He made a lot of rude comments, but he usually did it jest, the people here at the castle took themselves too seriously. No, she couldn't cry, not yet. It was not as if he was dead or anything, she had to be strong… Estelle forced herself to once again concentrate on her surroundings.

This room bothered her. It was rather creepy, built with black and grey stone, dark woodwork, and lighted only by a few candles here and there. An obvious lack of windows made the room seem even darker, the cavernous hall holding a foreboding and ominous presence. Sometimes, she swore she could see rats scurrying to and fro in the dark corners, though she was sure there was no such thing.

She looked up to the elevated platforms on which the seven elite sat, their faces hidden by the flickering shadows that correlated to the light- casting their profiles in a faint murky glow. Estelle eyed them curiously, looking from one end of the elevated platform to the other.

Craig Suingam sat furthest to the right, leaning nonchalantly against his arm rest, long unruly flame red hair spilling over his shoulder, and wearing a revealing purple vest over his bare, muscular and scarred chest. He didn't seem to be council member material, and if memory served, Suingam had once been a high ranking officer in the knights, which would explain the scars at least.

On Suignam's left, Mason Ravk sat stiff as a board and looking at his coworker with a look of revulsion. He looked spiffy as ever, his short blond hair slicked back and blue suit clipped tightly at his throat. His narrow golden eyes betrayed no emotion and he tended to handle every thing as business dealings. She supposed it was only natural, as he had been in charge of the trade and economy division for twenty years.

In the center, Luna Amynorp relaxed in her chair without being overly shoddy. She was beautiful, with a natural azure hair and eyes, and a gorgeous body that seemed to be rivaled only by Judith. And again, in the mixture of orderly and slapdash, she had donned the traditional council robes, but had left the top buttons undone, revealing the swell of her breasts. She was the leader of the elite as far as the princess knew, having the most political experience.

Forrest Sutsycrof had edged himself, probably unknowingly, as far from Amynorp as the chair would allow him. Estelle liked him the best out of everyone in the Elite- he was the only one that treated her like a person, while the others seemed to view her as a piece of meat. He was handsome, and although he was missing an eye and a sword made up his left arm, it didn't lessen his magnetism. With his cropped, chin length neon green hair and eyes like emeralds, and muscular body defined by the black mesh that was barely visible under his green, yellow and red armor. Add the fact that he had been commandant before Alexei, and it was no wonder he was so popular with the ladies.

Finally, beside Sutsycrof, Seamus Elydor hunched forward, leering at her over the railing. Estelle found him creepy with his bug-like beady eyes, slicked back greasy black hair, devoid of any color or shine (unlike Yuri's) much like his skin. If that man was any paler he'd be see through. Like Amynorp, he wore the traditional robes over his short and undoubtedly gaunt body. As much as he gave her the creeps, she didn't dare doubt his intelligence- as he had once been the head researcher of Aspio.

None of them looked their age, they should all have been in their seventies, yet they barely looked thirty. Why? And where were Sohtim and Llisardggy? Why were there only five seats when there were seven council members? Why hadn't she questioned this before? No, she shouldn't worry about that at the moment. There were more important things to worry about.

"You wanted to see me?" Estelle stuttered, distracting herself from her previous thoughts. She twisted her fingers in her hands, nervously eyeing the five elite as they suddenly all turned their gazes to her. The feeling of being a piece of meat surrounded by hungry wolves returned.

"Yes, princess Estellise, there is an important matter of which is to be discussed." To her gratitude, it was Sutsycrof who spoke up first. Amynorp and the others frightened her more than she'd ever like to admit- and Sutsycrof always seemed to head right to the issue.

"Very well," Estelle bowed her head dutifully, before gracefully swirling around and fluidly taking her seat in the plain wooden chair. The moment she regained eye contract with them she briefly wondered if condemned criminals sent here to face them had the same rush of fear that she did in the same chair she was seated in.

"It seems detrimental to the empire if we were to follow through with our original plans…" The green haired male said, not meeting her eyes as she looked up at him in confusion. Estelle noticed as the rest of the elite smirked down at her. "I apologize for giving you false hope…"

"What do you mean?" Estelle asked, trying to play innocent as their words hit base. She knew it; she knew why they had called her. She didn't want to hear this- she didn't want to know this. She had no desire to feel the plummeting feeling in her body as Amynorp turned to her, her mouth twisted in a smile.

"In essence, Lady Estelle, we have arranged for a better plan…" The blue eyed woman smirked, her eyes dancing in a cruel delight. Estelle wondered if she looked alarmed, she hoped not. Was it really that entertaining? She must be, because then Amynorp laughed at her before continuing "One that benefits the empire…"

* * *

><p>"Lady Estellise is to be married to Lord Leimer!" The cavernous room echoed the words, spreading across the castle like a disease. The speaker was a short male clothed in traditional robes, standing on a podium on the far edge of the main hall that was packed with nobles chatting self-indulgently behind their fans and hands, laughing haughtily.<p>

Beside the speaker on the podium, a man with a runner's thin toned body, center parted mid length blonde hair and dark green eyes that seemed to have some sort of hidden, dark secret.

He was known as Lord Haigos Evaristus-Lampo Leimer, a prestigious noble from Torim Harbor on the Tolbyccia continent, long favored by the council. Not much was known about him; most of the information that was known was that of his father, the now deceased Foitos Oides-Onesimos Leimer.

Leimer waved enthusiastically, a wide, charming smile adorning his features. He was eating this up, and loving the fame. He turned his head and glanced at the balcony behind him, and winked at the stunned princess behind him. He had known before hand about this, she could tell.

She couldn't think, she couldn't speak, and she couldn't even process what was happening around her. She wasn't interested in the events unfolding anymore; she wasn't concerned with anything right now, not in Leimer or anyone else. This is not what she had wanted.

She knew that if she let them keep her here, she would never be with Yuri. It was important to her. She had wanted to wait to tell him until after she was freed from the castle, but now, it seemed silly. Why had she wasted all that time? If she didn't do something, she would never get to tell him what she had wanted to tell him all along…

* * *

><p>Rain poured over the Quoi Woods and the region as several guards uneasily remained stationed there. They were waiting for a specified person, and having been told that the certain someone may take their route over Deidon hold they were waiting for him, as they had been ordered to gain custody of that certain individual.<p>

"I bet you won't go into the woods, Earh." One of the blond, female guards sneered at the quieter, more relaxed guards, who unlike all the rest of his team wore his helmet over his head. The blonds' long luscious curls framed her delicate face and her malicious brown eyes as she leered at her comrade.

"Ladia, that's mean!" A different, softer, female guard growled. Her twin sister stood silently behind her, observing the scene. Both girls had longer red hair pulled back into ponytails, along with gentle golden brown eyes. They were identical in everyway, expect for the fact that the one who spoke up was less endowed than her twin behind her.

"I can't help it, I'm bored!" Ladia said exasperatedly, twisting a curl of her hair around her gloved finger, eyeing the sisters with a pout. "I just wish Yuri Lowell would let himself get caught already so we can return to Zaphias! But…he's not shown up yet and I'm bored…"

"Yeah…"

"Well, Earh?" She turned to him with a victorious smirk. The rather silent man did not react, only stared right back at Ladia as she tried to stare him down, a large grin on her face. She began to taunt him, playing wit her wet hair, "You don't like this place, right? But you'll go in right…Or are you too cowardly?"

"Fine, I'll do it." His voice was deeper than it normally was, but it was probably due to the helmet that he wore today, claiming he didn't want to get any wetter than he was already doomed to get. The taller man walked past her, and strode confidently into the accursed woods as the rain poured down around him.

He didn't seem nervous at all.

Minutes passed, and the girls began to grow worried, had something happened to him? What if he had fallen prey to a monster, or had got lost? They really didn't want to go into those woods, they were nervous enough just guarding the entrance.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know I'm late!" Then, from behind them, Earh ran up, his short brown hair soaked from the rain and clumsily fumbling for his weapon. The three girls looked at him in amazement, and then looked back into the woods in confusion.

"Wait, we just sent you into the woods…" Ladia exclaimed as the twin sister behind her looked between Earh and the pathway into the deeper part of the Quoi Woods. Earh looked at them as if they were insane.

"I wouldn't go in there if my life depended on it." He scoffed, holding out his hands as to somehow defend himself. He wasn't a fan of superstitions, but he still believed in them- including the supposed curse. He looked at them as if they were stupid as he closed his eyes closed in fear as he shuddered in disgust. "Place gives me the creeps."

"But, if you didn't go in… who did?" The bustier of the twins asked curiously, Ladia and Earh shrugged as the male positioned himself furthest away from the woods as possible. Suddenly, the other girl growled from their right and hissed at them when they looked at her;

"Yuri Lowell, that's who."

* * *

><p>Perhaps he had gone in deep enough now.<p>

The knight looked back to check if any of the others had followed him, it would be a pain if they had. Seeing nothing except for the random monster scurrying past, he reached up and pulled the stuffy iron helmet off of his head, long obsidian hair spilling from it as the man took a deep breath.

He could finally breath freely again!

Yuri moved quickly, helmet stored under his arm. It would be a good idea to hold on to this uniform for a while yet- it might come in handy again later. He moved as quickly as he could in the bulky knights' uniform through the forest, slashing down any monster that dared try to attack.

This was bad if there were guards even guarding the accursed Quoi Woods. He must have really messed Flynn up- he could tell he was currently top priority with the knights from both the way they had spoke about him while he had disguised himself as Earh and the sheer number of them; everywhere.

They had also been a Deidon hold, so many of them that it was overwhelming. The knights had been completely serious about their jobs for once, not sleeping or playing the day away. They had been checking every person that went to and fro from the hold and searching them, their possessions, their wagons, ect.

Honestly he was a little flattered.

But the feeling had died the moment he saw Rita beating the guards over the head with her book for checking her as she passed through the checkpoint. She was on her way to visit Estelle and wasn't in the mood to be slowed down for anything, and he realized with a sense of dismay that if Flynn's words he had spoken about "…breaking lady Estellise's heart…." Were true…Rita would hunt him down and hang him with his own entrails…

But this was –apparently- the only way.

When she got to the capital, she would be told on what had happened and why the knights were hunting him down. She would then, as a member of Brave Vesperia, be forced to tell Karol what had happened. And, having broken the guilds Laws of "Doing justice and punishing the unjust…" by attacking Flynn and running, Karol and the others would also be hunting him down.

How the hell had he got himself into this mess?

"I've really fucked up this time, Repede…" He groaned, as his dog trotted out of the bushes, finally having caught up with his master. Yuri swayed in place, his head aching. The swordsman put a hand to his forehead as he stopped to lean against a tree. Tiredness was beginning to set in, but he knew he had to make it out of these woods before dark- before it got too dangerous and he was delayed by the lack of light to go by in the cursed woods.

He could bet that blond bitch was enjoying every moment of this. As creepy as it was and as eerie as it seemed, He knew she was watching him at all times when even there was no one there. He could be perfectly alone where no one could see him and she would still be near- it was as if she had implemented herself in his mind.

Honestly, he would rather she hadn't.

Repede whined from beside him, bringing him back to reality. He looked down at the dog as Repede jerked his head down the path Yuri had come. Pushing wet hair out of his eyes, Yuri looked down it and listened past the patter of the rain on the overgrown or dead foliage.

The sound of several heavy footsteps slapping against the muddy path, running through the dense undergrowth to catch up with him; clinking amour and weapons tearing away the shrubbery met Yuri's ears. He estimated that perhaps there were about ten or more knights that had already figured him out- or perhaps they were looking for the knight he had disguised himself as earlier….

Either way, he needed to get out of here.

He turned and ran off the pathway, Repede at his heels, ignoring the stinging slap of the wet plant life against his face as he headed further into the woods. After jumping over several dead overgrown branches and wading through a creek or two, he was pretty confident that he had escaped his pursuers.

With that in mind, he headed north to Halure.

* * *

><p><em>"Don't worry, Lady Estellise… I'll find him; I'll find him before they make you wed Lord Leimer, alright? So don't do anything reckless, I'll find Yuri myself, drag him back here and make him apologize to you. Then, perhaps we can stop the wedding. But first, I need to find Yuri…so promise me you won't do anything reckless…"<em>

No.

The council had declared her fit to be wed in less than six months. Terca Lumines was big, and there was little chance that Yuri would be found so easily. He had a knack for remaining hidden, a talent for eluding capture and a skill for escaping quickly whenever he was arrested.

Besides, what could he do?

"I'm sorry Flynn, but I will not let other people decide my life for me."

* * *

><p><strong>"I thought I saw him at Deidon Hold."<strong>

**"Let's go, to Halure! Our objectives: detain the criminal Yuri Lowell and locate Lady Estellise!"**

**"What happened here!"**

The Separation: Spark


	6. The Separation: Spark

A/N: Whoot! Done, done, and done! I was so glad to get this done because then I could start the next part!

**"I thought I saw him at Deidon Hold."**

**"Let's go, to Halure! Our objectives: detain the criminal Yuri Lowell and locate Lady Estellise!"**

**"What happened here?"**

* * *

><p>The panicked cries could be heard over a good mile from Zaphias.<p>

Lady Estellise had gone missing sometime in the night, had just vanished into thin air. And now everyone was panicking and looking for her, tearing through every nook and cranny of the capital city. And already, there were rumors and suspicions that Yuri Lowell had kidnapped her.

The somewhat recovered commandant snorted in disbelief, there was no way Yuri would have kidnapped her.

Unless Yuri's reasoning had gone out the window and to 'Ohh, yeah, you know, I'm going to get myself in a real bind to the point where I cannot talk about why or how I'm I got myself in a predicament as well as anything about the council not suspicious at all right and then I'm going to try and kill my friend and then I'm going to leave the city and then sneak back in after causing a panic and kidnap the princess instead of just kidnapping her when I left the first time! Genius, yes?'

However, he highly doubted that was the case.

Flynn carefully parted the plant life and waded through the emerald undergrowth of the surrounding woods, ignoring the dampness in his clothes from the precipitation that still clung to the vegetation, remnants from the previous night's rain. As he looked for a flash of pink, a scrap of white cloth, anything to signify that the princess had gone this way.

There was nothing, to be seen or to be found. It was as if the princess had completely disappeared off the face of the earth.

Wiping his muddy hands on his pant legs, sighing in disappointment as his search turned up fruitless once more. He collapsed nearby a twisted old tree, intending to relax for a moment and let the sting in his abdomen subside. The blond swordsman knew he would have to search again, and the thought of it made him groan. Who now, of all times, had Lady Estelline decided to be all difficult?

He relaxed his neck, leaning his head against the tree the bark grating off against his back and intertwining itself into his hair. Already, twigs and leaves stuck out of his messy blond hair at awkward angles, and the commandant knew that Yuri would have teased him about it rather resembling a bird's nest.

Ahh, he didn't want to think about Yuri at the moment.

Frowning somewhat childishly, Flynn supposed of a plausible reason for Lady Estellise's disappearance, she simply went off after a certain idiotic swordsman who seemed to love to be difficult. Perhaps she had also picked up this reckless habit from said idiotic swordsman, it made perfect sense.

He shook his head firmly, twig, bark and leaf ridden wet hair slapping him lightly across his cheekbones as he placed his hand on the tree to help propel himself up. He could hardly call the little interlude a rest, but he didn't feel like sitting down and just staying there. He had to do something, otherwise he would drive himself insane...

Now, he had to think rationally. Lady Estellise had last been seen by her bed chamber maid around nine, and according to the maid, the princess had seemed rather normal and almost eerily calm, in light of recent events. This was a flag right away; perhaps she had already planned her escape then. And somehow, she had managed to slip past the guards on the highest security shift unnoticed, yet another lovely little practice she had probably picked up from their dear friend Mr. Idiotic Swordsman.

But even so, she couldn't have gotten far; if she had spent the entire night escaping the castle she would be getting tired. She had to sleep sometime, so he would have his men check all inns and hotels immediately. But he had long since learned not to underestimate the princess as she usually exceeded expectations, one wrong move and she might slip on right through their fingers.

"Commandant, wait!"

The blond commandant glanced over his shoulder in bemusement, only to see his second in command darting swiftly towards him, and expression of fortitude on her face, her clothes just as dirty as his and a piece of paper clutched tightly in her not gloved right hand. It seemed as whatever news she bore was extremely important from just how determined she acted.

Then again, Sodia was always rather resolute, the commandant thought with a fond smile.

"What is it?" Flynn asked as she slowed to a stop beside him, sliding a little in the mud and panting pretty heavily. He wondered briefly if she had ran nonstop all the way from the castle to here just outside the capital with this paper in hand.

"It's a letter from Lady Estellise." Sodia gasped, catching her fiance's instantaneous attention as she slowly straightened her body, "I found it on her desk by accident while investigating her room. It had been somewhat hidden under a paperweight. It seems as though she did not wish for this letter to go under the public eye."

"Has anyone already read it?" The commandant asked cautiously, worried if the princess had found out anything about the elite, maybe something Yuri hadn't been able to tell them before and then the Elite had read this letter and- no…even the elite wouldn't go so far as to foul play- at least not at Lady Estellise.

"No one as far as I can tell…and by the way, the letter is addressed to you…"

"I see." Flynn sighed in relief, his posture relaxing as good news got even better. The commandant ran his hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face. He then looked down to his coffee haired second in command as she met his eyes doggedly. "May I see the letter, Sodia?"

"Affirmative." She replied, releasing her firm grip on the small piece of white paper, yet grasping it well as so the fragile paper didn't blow away. Flynn gingerly took it from her hand and unfolded the paper gingerly, before opening and reading it.

_Dear Flynn,_

_I realize that as you are reading this, you are probably angry at me. I'm sorry if I've worried you, but I am not sorry that I have decided to leave the castle._

_I have chosen to find my own path- and to look for Yuri on my own. I cannot trouble you with this request as you are already busy enough, and I have thought about leaving for a long while now. I hope you will not remain angry at me for long, as I would have rather this sort of parting been avoided._

_But I know that the Elite would never let me go willingly, and that if I were to stay my life would be under their command. Being royalty is a privilege and I don't want that privilege anymore. You must understand what I am saying._

_With this statement, I know that I not only forfeit my home, but the title of royalty itself. In my last act as princess, I expelled myself from the castle._

_Flynn, in the likely event that you may find me and try to take me back to the castle, I will have no choice but to resist you with everything I have._

_Thank you for being such a good friend all these years._

_Sincerely, Estelle_

Flynn stood silently, as his fears materialized. Lady Estellise had indeed left Zaphias to pursue Yuri. His hand began to shake in an unknown emotion as he tried to make sense of what was going on. It was all happening too fast- the council, Yuri's betrayal, and now Lady Estellise abandoning the empire- it was all occurring too quickly…

"Sodia." The commandant said as rain clouds and thunder rolled in on waves of dark clouds, his voice unexpectedly sharp. It did well to capture her attention from the ominous sky and draw her eyes back onto him.

"Yes, command-" She began, but stopped mid sentence. Flynn watched her curiously, wondering what she'd do next. She seemed to struggle with herself for a few moments, before finally a wild blush erupted across her face and she muttered awkwardly "-uh, Flynn…?"

He felt a smile break out across his features, a smile he'd been desperately in need of. She was just too cute when she did that, and when she dropped her guard so completely. He walked over to her, his earlier worries and concerns stable now. The blond commandant placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her slightly. He seemed to do that to her often.

"Let's return to the castle and show this to Ioder." Flynn said, waving the small piece of paper back and forth between his fingers. It was that moment when an opportune gust of wind from the approaching storm decided to race through the woods, nearly ripping the small yet valuable piece of paper out from between his fingers.

There was a moment of silence as the commandant wrestled the wildly fluttering paper back into s clear firm grip. Then, their eyes met and Flynn started laughing. Sodia watched him for a moment, before a beautiful smile blossomed across her face and she, ever dutifully replied;

"Yes sir."

* * *

><p>She could understand Deidon Hold, but the Quoi Woods?<p>

And why did all the guards seem to be on edge?

Oh yeah, they were also looking for Yuri.

Estelle peeked through the bushes into the Knight's encampment, observing the setup of the tents and trying to remember the knight's early morning patrols. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins and the fear was nearly too much to handle, but her fatigue seemed to cancel out any of the negative panic effects she might have normally worried about.

She hadn't had a good night of sleep in over three days.

Wow, had it already been three days since she had left the castle? It sure didn't feel like it had been all that long…

The rain wasn't pelting her anymore. Glancing to the sky, she noticed that it seemed to be finally letting up. She was rather thankful, as the pink haired knew that with less rain meant less chance of getting sick- if she wasn't already- less chance of tracks- wet mud left more tracks than dry mud, Yuri had taught her that a long time ago.

A pair of knights drew nearer and Estelle ducked even closer to the ground, counting each second as they walked by. She bit her lip as the knight stopped just next to the bushes, observing the area. Estelle prayed he wouldn't see her as the knight peered into her hiding place, suspicion clouding his features.

The knight drew back his spear slightly, preparing to give the bush a little poke. Estelle, too tired to panic, focused on her opponent's weak spots, her hand creeping towards the sword strapped to her waist, fully prepared to attack if it became necessary. She grasped the handle just as the knight drew back his weapon and-

He rotated it so that it was sitting on his armored shoulder, the metal meeting wit ha slight click, before taking one last good look around, and turning away completely; whistling as he walked down the path on the edge of the camp amicably. Estelle lowered her hand away from her weapon, her heart beating a mile a minute.

That had been too close for comfort.

If he had seen her, if he had alerted anyone else of her presence, it could've been over for her little trip. Flynn was probably irate at her for pulling off such a crazy stunt alone, and Estelle couldn't even imagine how the Elite were reacting to this. She shook her head, her wet pink hair flopping slightly against her cheekbones.

She could never let that happen.

She had abandoned that life, it was what she wanted. And although she had taken care to write out a formal letter renouncing her position of royalty, she doubted that the elite would accept it and even Flynn might try to convince her to resume her position as royalty. But Estelle had made her decision, and she knew that no matter what, from now on, she could never turn back and she would have to accept the consequences of her actions.

But how was she to get past the knights without being caught?

Her dress was soaked, dirty and her knees were muddy from kneeling in the muck like she had been these past several hours. And she hadn't had a real shower since the night she had left the castle, and the rain could hardly be considered a substitute for a real shower. Shaking herself out of her daze, Estelle crept over a little, edging her knees though the sludge and puddles.

How to sneak past?

Maybe she could dart quickly through the guards, before they could catch her? No, that would just be sheer stupidity. There were knights specifically trained for speed, and Estelle bet there was at least one of them here that would catch up with her pretty easily if she tried such a stunt. She would have to think of another way.

Perhaps she possibly could simply try to sneak past them, but, no, that was also too risky. There were just way too many guards stationed here, and they all seemed to be on edge already and the incident from the spear wielding guard from earlier was still grating on her nerves.

Shaking herself to keep the seductive lure of sleep at bay, she focused all of her energy into conjuring up a decent plan. All of her previous ones had sucked dreadfully. Possibly, she might somehow be able steal a knights uniform, disguise herself, and then sneak past them-

"How did he get through?" A brash voice interrupted her thoughts, but she didn't mind. They were talking about Yuri, she was sure of it. If she was correct in her assumption, Yuri had been here earlier, which would mean she was on the right track to catching up with him. So, how had he made it past?

"He had disguised himself as a knight!"

There went her plan. There was no way the knights would fall for a trick like that twice. But, at least she now knew that Yuri had gone this way and managed to slip past the knights without getting caught- or in this case detected until it was too late. But now wasn't the time to dream of that.

She needed a new plan…

* * *

><p>"Monster!"<p>

"It's a monster!"

Estelle darted past the panicking soldiers as they all headed towards the sight of the disturbance. This was probably her most foolish plan yet, but it seemed as though it might actually work. She dodged the alarmed guards and ducked under the enraged soldiers, making her way to the Quoi woods, so far undetected.

"Lady Estellise?" A female voice shouted out over the havoc, drawing the princess's attention to the woman for a moment. The knight's thick red hair was drawn into a ponytail and her golden eyes were wide in surprise. Behind her, distracted, stood what the pink haired woman presumed to be the knight's twin sister.

Dammit, she had been seen.

Estelle, too tired to panic, moved swiftly though the final ranks of the knights, hoping the two red heads behind her wouldn't raise too much commotion. But even if they did, they wouldn't be heard over all the pandemonium that a few weak monsters had caused. She would be unnoticed for a few minutes that it would take to calm the encampment.

Her foot making a quiet thump as she bounced off the gnarled roots, her gloved hands gently brushing across the rough bark of the ancient trees as she pressed softly against them, bending her body fluidly to dodge the branches that seemed to try to reach out from the brush and grab her, the deserter made her way throughout the creepy woodland, moving constantly.

Was she far enough in yet? She stopped briefly, panting, as the rain began to fall again, much to her chagrin. She had thought that it was well on its way to Zaphias by now. She was going to get sick from this lack of sleep and rainy, cold weather mix. Yuri would be calling her an idiot, and she knew well enough that it would be no ones fault but her own if she got sick.

The rain in the woods was strangely beautiful. Most of the monsters in the Quoi woods were not big fans of the precipitation and had a tendency to hide when a storm would be unleashed upon the region. Without the monsters and with the clear rain in the darkened daylight, the trees and foliage held a mysterious and nostalgic charm. She listened to the patter of rain against the foliage, closing her eyes and allowing herself to relax…

There were no guards approaching just yet, no clanking of heavy armor approaching and none of the obnoxious loud and commanding voices that would dominate this peaceful silence. Estelle smiled, trying to enjoy a minute of reprieve before she set out again; all she had to do was make sure she didn't fall asleep. There were no knights, but as she soon realized, there was something else … a rustle in the bushes just to her right…

Estelle's hand flew to her weapon before she even fully realized what was going on, drawing the sword from its sheath in one fluid motion and thrusting it up to her opponent's neck as her opponent leapt from the bushes, a familiar book raised over her head in attempt at an attack. The attack stopped almost as quickly as it had sparked, and the two females stood in astonishment.

"E-Estelle?" Rita gaped, her eyes widening in shock as Estelle withdrew her blade. The mage watched in flabbergasted silence as the deserter calmly sheathed her sword, before raising her eyes to meet Rita's. Finally, the mage found the words, sounding more concerned than irritated. "What are you doing here? Why are you not in the castle, what is-"

"Please, quiet!" Estelle whispered hurriedly, running foreword and speedily putting a gloved hand over Rita's mouth. There were the little butterflies of joy fluttering still, but the reality of the situation was that they couldn't make too much noise. And she did not want to deal with the knights. "I'll explain everything in Halure, okay, but first we need to get out of here…"

"Yuri Lowell, we know you're still in there!" A disgruntled knight shouted from the entrance of the woods, surprising the mage and her friend at his "boomy" voice as Estelle had dubbed it. The peace she had so enjoyed earlier interrupted, she turned back to Rita, a thoughtful look on her face.

So Yuri was only a little ahead of her, huh?

"Yuri….I thought I saw him at Deidon Hold…so he didn't get through either…" Rita muttered, drawing Estelle's attention. She would have to ask the little mage about that later, but right now, they needed to get out of here before Mr. Boomy caught up to them, and Estelle would rather avoid that sort of confrontation.

Rita barely had time to let out a surprised squeak as her friend snatched her around the wrist and took off. Estelle didn't notice the look of surprise her friend threw her as she, more powerfully than Rita had ever imagined, dragged her through the Quoi woods and eluded capture.

* * *

><p>The castle's main hallway was chock full of knights, chatting gaily and relaxing against the wall as they awaited their commandant. They had all been called to the castle and a feast had been prepared for them; as of now they were in high spirits, and anxious to see if the rumors of their captain being unable to lead were true.<p>

Flynn watched them with a sigh behind the curtain on the balcony, holding his hand to his wound as Sodia tried to get him to eat another apple gel. He knew he was being stubborn, and over an idiotic thing that his second in command was correct about. Finally giving in, he took the reddish gel and forced himself to chew on it, not enjoying the taste in the least.

His mind was reeling with what he was about to do, but he knew it had to be done. The elite would never make the first move, so, while it was a risky move, he knew he had but little choice. The commandant had discussed it with Ioder, and they had both agreed it was the best, and most logical, course of action. He hoped that Yuri and lady Estellise wouldn't take it personally; at this point it was just politics.

He couldn't believe he had become one of them. It sickened him on just how low he would have to sink behind the scenes while maintain his pleasant façade to the world around him. He was truly becoming a two faced politician. He had made the mistake of thinking of the knights and the military a separate entity from the government and now he was paying for it. He now knew change wouldn't happen overnight.

Sodia tapped him on the arm, alerting him that the time had come. Taking in a deep breath and banishing his depressing thoughts, Flynn squared his shoulders and readied himself for the moment he had been dreading as he moved aside the curtain and blanched from the light. He let the curtain fall behind him, the feeling of silk slipping through his fingers as he faced the large crowd of knights.

The sheer number of knights never failed to impress him.

"Good evening," Flynn began, his voice projecting out from the stage and catching the knight's attention instantaneously. They stared up at him reverence, their incessant babbling ceasing the moment they laid eyes on him. Feeling uncomfortable for a moment, Flynn continued lightheartedly. "I hope you are all well, and have enjoyed your meal. I know that most of you would rather be going to bed right about now, however, I have a speech we need to get out of the way first, so try to stay awake, alright?"

The knights chuckled among themselves, nodding with their commandant's statement. Flynn rather wished he had written this down before hand, this impromptu thing was making him nervous; he was by no means a stand up comedian. He felt Sodia's gaze focused on him and calmed himself a little, he would be just fine.

"Thank you. Now, let us move onto the more pressing matters." The commandant began seriously, his presence rather commanding in the grand hall, once again silencing the soldiers jabber. Flynn felt a twinge from the wound but ignored it, "You all may have heard of my recent injury and the rumors that it would put me out of commission for several more weeks…"

A wave of unease spread through the crowd like a disease as the terrifying notion of loosing their commandant danced through their thoughts. Most of them held him in high regard and admired him, if not for his character then for his strength or ideals. No one had ever been so admired since Sutsycrof just before Alexei.

"…and I would like to tell you that those rumors were false." Flynn smiled, his blue eyes glowing with determination. He raised his hand to the injury and closed his eyes, hoping that this would all go smoothly and the plan would work. "I will not be taking any time off due to this minimal wound; instead, I will without further ado resume my position as commandant…"

His confidence grew as the men cheered him on; this was going much better than he thought it would've. No questions had been asked therefore no questions needed to be answered. No, he didn't want to think about the darker side of the situation, instead he once again let the good spirit carry him away as he resumed his speech confidentially.

"…and we will carry out our next mission together…."

Sodia meanwhile had kept her eyes on the soldiers, her face contorted with a small frown as she watched them suspiciously. Flynn glanced back at her quickly as the knights whispered excitedly among themselves. She swiftly met his eyes and nodded, giving him the green light to go on with the plan.

"We leave tomorrow!" Flynn announced as he spun to face them, him, bewildering the soldiers as he continued his bold statement. _Here's hoping that this will actually work_ Flynn thought as he finished his earlier statement. "Let's go, to Halure! Our objectives are to detain the criminal Yuri Lowell and locate Lady Estellise!"

The hall filled with cheers.

* * *

><p>Had it taken him this long to reach Halure last time?<p>

Ah well, it's not like it mattered anymore anyway.

The opposite side of the mountains was relatively rain-free, aside from a few stormy grey clouds that held no sustenance that drifted by overhead, briefly blocking the warm spring sun. The cool breeze glided lazily, weakly playing with his hair and clothes. Yuri closed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath, as much as he didn't want to openly admit it, enjoyed the sensation.

Repede trotted beside him, content with the silence they traveled in. Yuri himself wasn't so sure, these moments of silence was nice, but part, a big part, of him missed traveling with the guild already. The noise they created while they horsed around, their strange camaraderie when they fought a common enemy, and how they amused him with their somewhat childish antics.

Repede suddenly growled.

"What is it, Repede?" The swordsman paused for a moment before looking down at the canine, confused. The dog was pacing in place, trying to communicate with a mixture of whines and snarls before finally darting off to the south-west of Halure. Yuri watched in bewilderment, before darting off after his canine friend. "Repede!"

He smelled smoke.

Yuri could see the faint outline of a small village of six to ten cottages cuddled around what used to be a town square of sorts. It was definitely a serf village due to the large field just to his right, and like the burning cottages, the fields had already been looted. He hoped there were no people in the burning homes as black smoke decorated the blue sky.

The town seemed empty; it was as if they had left without a fight with their attacker. Maybe they had set the fires themselves. Both of the theories were plausible, yet something told him was missing a detail. He spotted tracks in the dirt, many of them. There were signs of struggle, but not an ounce of blood decorated the thick brown topsoil.

The tracks were still fresh in the dirt, and he realized that this had happened probably just a half an hour ago. The swordsman looked at the burning homes in fury, he bet that this somewhat decent life the serfs had managed had taken generations to get, and it was all ruined in one day. Who would do this kind of thing?

Repede whined, trotting away towards the center of the small village.

Yuri glanced over his shoulder to the large tree in the center of the village and his eyes were drawn to the bawling child curled into a ball at the base of the tree. He could almost feel his heart being twisted in his chest watching that child cry, and before he knew it, he was next to the child, pulling an apple gel from his pouch. The child glanced up, hearing noise, and then hid behind his tiny, burned and frail arms.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Yuri sad gently, anger coursing through his veins when he spotted the child's burnt arms. Those were second degree burns at the least, and they would have to be treated quickly otherwise they might get infected. But he was no healer. Trying not to think of Estelle, he decided that an apple gel would have to do. "Here, eat this."

"Ah…" The silver eyed boy lowered his arms from his face cautiously, eyeing the red gel in the swordsman's hand. The blonde little boy reached for it and took it slowly from Yuri's hand, as if expecting him to take it back. Keeping his distrustful eyes on the older man, the boy drew the gel to his chest and looked at it. As if realizing what it was the child quickly crammed it in to his mouth and muttered a hasty "Thank you."

"You're welcome. What happened here?" The swordsman asked as the boy looked at him blankly. Then, suddenly, as though the words finally made sense to him, he started shaking, drawing his knees to his chest, wrapping his badly burned arms around them and curling into a ball. Yuri noticed the boy looked as though he was to cry again. Concerned, the older swordsman placed a hand on the child's uninjured shoulder as he inquired "What's wrong?"

Repede whined again, and Yuri glanced over towards the dog in perplexity. As he met the dog's eyes, a droplet of a red liquid landed in a puddle of the same red liquid between them. His body went ice cold and his mind went blank as Yuri followed the steady rhythm of red up to its source. Horror overcame him at the ghastly and barbaric sight that awaited his eyes.

From the branches of the tree, thirty or so dead men, women, and children hung from ropes at their necks. Their throats had been slit with a serrated knife, and in a gruesome display of savagery, the attackers had cut open their stomachs so that their bowels were dangling out for the world to see. One of the bodies, the one of the village headman, had a sign roped around his neck. The blood dripped steadily down slit writs, onto the ground in a steady cadence as the boy let out an agonizing howl.

* * *

><p>"<strong>Commandant, what are you planning?"<strong>

"**I'm looking for Yuri."**

"**I'm Asalle of Savage Wolf, and I'll kill anyone who stands in my way."**

Next: The Separation: Asalle of Savage Wolf


	7. The Separation: Asalle of Savage Wolf

A/N: Yay! I'm done with Highschool- For Good! Sorry about the INCREDIBLY late update, and although I know it is no excuse, I was busy with graduation, graduation parties, and senior trips. I will not deliver a chapter this late again!

Please review, I love +faves and +sub but I really love a review. :)

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><p>"Here."<p>

Questioning silver eyes lifted to see the older swordsman offering him a mug of steaming black coffee. The boy weakly looked upwards towards the man's face as he buried himself in the blanket that he had been gifted, his curiosity getting the better of him. Did he mean that the drink was for him?

"It may be bitter, but it will warm you up." The dark haired man said another cup of the hot coffee in his other hand. The boy eyed the taller male for several minutes, watching the way the breeze played with his long, obsidian hair. He looked scary at first glance, but he was actually a rather gentle man.

His words were relevant too. Although it was spring, the night was freezing. One would die out here if not given the proper supplies. He was rather aware of that, as the chill pierced even the blanket that the swordsman had let him borrow.

"Thank you." The silver eyed boy muttered hoarsely, taking the mug from his rescuer's hand. He was surprised by how hot the cup actual was when he cupped the ceramic in his small, trembling hands. He gagged when the bitter taste hit his tongue, but refused to spit it out. He was going to drink the whole damn cup no matter what.

There was no noise aside from the boy's attempts to keep from choking as he downed the entire cup of coffee, warmth shooting from his belly and up his veins. Sighing in contentment, the boy lifted his eyes and looked again at his savoir. If that man hadn't come along, he would have probably died…

They had staked out a location a few miles from the destroyed village to avoid monsters drawn by the smell of blood. It had taken the swordsman nearly the whole day to bury the villagers, and the boy was immensely grateful for it. It was the least those kindly villagers had deserved.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Ah," The question surprised him, and the boy lifted his face to that of the swordsman's, a small coffee-induced mustache on his upper lip. He blinked for a moment, and then wiped the coffee from his face. "Ryker, Ryker Naranbaatar." He said, setting the now empty mug on the ground beside him and snuggling into the blanket as warmth traveled through his body.

"So, Ryker," The man began, throwing another log into the orange fire, small red and yellow sparks flying from it as his alert dog kept a watchful eye out just a few feet away. The man then lifted his dark eyes and glanced over in the boy's direction, "how are you feeling?"

"Uh, Okay I guess." Ryker replied, bemused. None of the others had ever asked him these sorts of questions; it was definitely an odd experience. Brushing his unkempt golden hair out of his eyes, he bemusedly wondered why this man was taking so much care of him. Perhaps it might be worth it to actually learn this man's name… "What's your name mister?"

"Yuri, Yuri Lowell."

Ryker lifted an eyebrow to that. Farmer? Seriously? He had expected a cooler name, not something like Yuri. Perhaps Nikita, or Andrei, maybe Mstislav or Vikenti… But Yuri? The name didn't seem to suit the man in front of him at all. He was honestly confused, but then again, it was also none of his business what the man was called.

"So, Ryker, I know it might be hard to talk about, but I need you to tell me what happened aback at your village." Yuri didn't seem to share his penchant for secrets and boundaries and the boy was surprised, so far this man wasn't anything like he had expected.

"That wasn't my village." The silvered eyed boy muttered in slight annoyance, facing away from the older man as a feeling of guilt infiltrated his tone. He hoped it wasn't noticeable. "They were just kind and took me in after I ran away…"

"Alright then, Ryker, can you tell me what happened this morning at the village?" Yuri rephrased his question, watching the boy with a curious gleam in his eye. Ryker bet that the older man was suspicious of him. Well, let him be suspicious Ryker thought with a barely concealed frown. He was relived, however, that there had been no questions to as of why he was running away. "Unless it is too painful for you…"

"No, its not that…well, I..." Ryker sighed, glancing down at the coffee mug with a look of gloom. He could feel the twisting in his gut, brutally reminding him of his guilt in the given situation. He shook his violently; blond hair whipping wildly and slapping his cheeks and ears. It wasn't his fault, it couldn't be his fault. He could still feel the swordsman's bemused gaze on him. He didn't want to make him even more wary…

If it bothers you that much, then you don't have to tell me anything." Yuri repeated his statement, leaning back away from the blazing fire, relaxing against a sleeping bag that lay behind him, still bundled. A ways away, the dog kept a watchful eye on horizon and the immediate area, alert for any monsters that may pass by.

"No. I'll tell you what happened. Or at least what I know..." Ryker said, meeting Yuri's obsidian eyes with his silver ones for the briefest of moments, before looking up into the night sky, his silver eyes glazing over as he spoke with a calm and steady cadence. "I had stayed the night at the headman's house. He had let me stay after finding out hat I was alone. I was sleeping peacefully when –BAM! Someone busted down the doorway downstairs from the room I was sleeping in."

The man was listening to him, actually listening. He wasn't trying to interrupt and ask stupid questions like adults usually did, he was keeping his mouth shut and ears open. Ryker decided that he liked this man, even if he was a little odd...

"Whoever had come in was yelling loudly, and the nice lady who lived there told me to hide in the hidden alcove. So I did." Ryker stopped for a moment as a gust of chilly wind nearly knocked him over, playing with the fire momentarily before dispersing into the night sky. Although a little shaken, the boy continued his story, "Then, I smelled smoke, and then there was fire. I ran out of the alcove and out the back door. The houses were on fire…but no one was there. So I hid in the bushes and looked around for everyone. They were all in the town square…but…but…"

Why couldn't he finish his statement?

"That's good enough. You don't have to tell me the rest." The swordsman said from the other side of the fire. Only then did the boy notice that he was shaking violently, his body trembling and tears running down his face. He couldn't keep his cool any longer as the memories of the ghastly slaying of the villagers played themselves over in his head.

He broke down, bawling into the earth, curling his small body into a ball. He couldn't deal with this. Why did they have to die? Why did they die? Why did those men have to kill them so horribly? And why weren't those men being punished? Why? Why were they getting away with murder again? Why had they not been stopped yet?

Why?

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><p>The midnight moon reflected off the commandant's shining silver armor as the commandant himself watched the moon from the ivy coated balcony that stuck out above the gardens. The moon was quick approaching the horizon and the eastern skies were illuminated by the still sleeping sun.<p>

Flynn sighed, his shoulders drooping as tension rolled off him in waves. The knights and he were to leave in only a few hours, and as the morning quickly came to the land, he grew rather nervous. This plan that Ioder had come up with, how was he sure it would ever even work? There was no one hundred percent guarantee that this would ever work…

They were taking a rather risky gamble.

There was a rustle from behind him against the ivy; light clothing clad the female warrior behind him. She was quiet for several minutes, as if almost afraid to speak. Flynn honestly could not blame her; he full well realized that he had been acting rather strangely since his return from his rendezvous with Ioder.

"Commandant, what are you planning?" She finally said, coming up behind him and looking up at her beloved commandant. He saw swirling tendrils of coffee hued hair in the air. So, her hair was loose, huh? That was rare. The commandant shook his head, he couldn't get distracted, not when he was betting this much. He faced her.

His breath caught for a moment, the image of her illuminated in the moonlight, her hair floating in the wind like a halo around her jaw line. She wore a simple blue dress that was tied at her waist and her feet were encased in a pair of simple brown slip on shoes. It rather surprised him just how feminine she looked in that moment; of course, she looked pretty in her uniform, but now…He shook his head, he couldn't get distracted.

"What do you mean, Sodia?" Flynn asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. His words didn't fool her for a moment, and he knew it. She glared up at him with those focused amethyst eyes and the commandant then knew he needed an escape. "Uh, besides, I thought I told you to call me Flynn?"

"Nice try," Sodia said firmly, walking up from behind him slowly. He watched her as she moved towards him slowly, mesmerized by her movements, the fluid grace of her body. He lifted his eyes to her face, drawn to her pink lips. Then, with those delicate lips, uttered in a strict voice, "You seem worried."

"Do I?" Flynn laughed his elbow dropping to his chest as his hand still held to his neck. He was a little ashamed of his earlier, questionable thoughts, he had long ago sworn to keep this relationship pure for as long as he could. Even though he was a man, he was a commandant first, if he was to make a definite move, Sodia would have to…

"It is about Lowell, Lady Estellise and our plan, is it not?" Sodia interrupted his somewhat depressing thoughts, to his gratitude. Depressing and trying thoughts were not what he wished to dwell on at the moment. She had turned her face away, watching the gardens, her eyes trained on the walkways and windows. She spoke carefully, watching for an eavesdropper. "Are you worried about what will happen should our bet fail?"

"You got me." Flynn sighed, finally meeting her eyes. Sodia impulsively brushed a strand of her hair behind her left ear. Flynn smiled, a little relaxed, before continuing, "Honestly, I know Yuri and Lady Estellise are tough and can get care of themselves…but…"

A lot of things were riding on this. Flynn knew in order to play the game successfully; he might be forced to try to seriously kill his best friend if Yuri was really up to no good, he couldn't support someone with bad intentions as long as he was commandant. As for Lady Estellise, he would seek her out and bring her back to Zaphias given the chance; a member of the royal family couldn't leave so easily.

If he let them slip around and did not give it his all, those spies that had hid themselves in the knights would report back to their superiors, whoever the superiors were. Politics was a dangerous game and Flynn knew he happened to be caught in it; he was wading in deep water with the sharks. If he didn't get out of the water soon, he would be dinner.

He prayed he wouldn't be forced to carry out either plan.

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><p>Aquamarine eyes remained trained on the purple, pink, and orange streaked sky as the sun slowly crawled over the horizon. A chilly morning breeze played amongst her russet locks, provoking goose bumps along the back of her neck to her upper back. She drew her knees closer to her body, tucking them under her chin and wrapping her arms securely around her legs, relaxing as a few luluria petals drifted by on the wind.<p>

Estelle had seriously dragged her all the way to Halure from the Quoi Woods in a mere twelve hours. Usually, it was a full day's journey. She was honestly impressed by Estelle's hidden strength. However, the moment they had arrived in the City of Blossoms, Estelle had collapsed, leaving the scrawny sixteen year old mage to drag her to the nearest inn.

And Estelle still hadn't told her what exactly was going on.

_Maybe __Estelle __herself __doesn__'__t __know__…_ Rita thought with a slight scowl, closing her eyes for a moment, letting her mind rest. She already knew that Yuri had somehow done something or other, and whatever it was, it was probably dangerous. Tightening her grip on her sleeves, she tried to suppress a surge of some unknown emotion. _By __god __I__'__ll __kill __him __if __he __made __Estelle __cry__…_

She heard the scrape of the door against the floor, and the patter of soft footsteps on the stairway, the boards creaking slightly under the weight as a gentle presence descended the staircase. She heard a quiet thump as Estelle dropped down beside her, sitting on her knees. Rita blinked in surprise as the silence stretched. She had not expected Estelle to awaken so quickly.

"I'm looking for Yuri." Estelle said quietly, nearly a whisper that Rita almost did not hear, words that could be lost among the wind. Her voice was gentle, and more lady like than it had been a year ago at the fall of the Adephagos. Rita had not heard this voice yet, not even when they had reunited in the Quoi Woods and for whatever reason fled from the knights.

Rita shook her head, before turning to look at her friend. Estelle's hair had grown longer, now shoulder length. The cherry blossom hued tresses draped over her shoulders and slightly down to her chest, curling inwards at her neck. Her body had changed too, like her voice it had matured and developed into that of Rita. She did not recognize this Estelle.

"I figured that much out already." The mage scoffed, glaring into the dawn as the sun finally peeked over the horizon. She tried to ignore the unknown emotion as it threatened to resurface again as she looked at the new Estelle. Rita braved the strange feeling; she needed to forget about that for now. If there was any remnant from the old Estelle, it would be the old Estelle's feelings of the idiotic swordsman. "But what exactly is going on?"

Estelle barely hesitated to tell her everything that she knew.

It was by no means a long tale, so by the time Estelle had started and by the time she had finished, little time had passed at all. She told Rita about how the swordsman had started acting strangely only after he had been found in the woods by Sodia, and that for whatever reason, he and Flynn had fought and Yuri had won, supposedly leaving Flynn for dead.

Rita's fists trembled in rage as the she silently listened to the last bit of Estelle's tale. The princess's voice was wobbly, stifling her own flood of emotion. He had made her cry; Rita just knew it in her bones. And not only that, but he had also; just as she had assumed; done something incredibly stupid.

"That… idiot! Is he trying to do everything o his own again, because if he is I swear I'll-" Rita growled the first few words, before turning the other part of her statement into a roaring howl of fury. The mage shot upwards, standing defiantly yelling into the sky. She had barely started her rant when interrupted by her gentle friend.

"Rita, I don't think Yuri is doing this on purpose." Estelle insisted standing up slowly to face her as Rita turned to the gentle woman, scowling. She wasn't angry at her or anything, but why couldn't Estelle understand that she was on her side? Throwing her a disbelieving look, Rita returned the slight glare as Estelle once again adamantly said. "Really, I don't."

"Oh, stop defending him already! So it's an accident he's left the castle, alone, after mysteriously attacking the commandant who also happens to be his best friend?" Rita snapped, "Not to mention you said he was acting strange after that assistant of Flynn's found him in the woods. Either he's lost it, or something is up and he's playing hero! Either way, I'm going to kill him when I see him again!"

"Rita please calm down!" Estelle yelled desperately, tugging on her friend's shoulder and spinning the mage to face her. The mage quickly glanced up at her, still all but spitting in rage. Her face flushed, hair wild and a little out of breath, Rita barely cooled enough to even hear what her friend was trying to say. She was honestly little amazed on how she could remain so calm in light of the situation. "Please, hear me out Rita!"

"But he hurt y-" Rita began angrily, unknowingly crossing the line. She stopped however, when Estelle gently grabbed her right hand with her left and lifted it up to her chest, cradling it. Her face was hidden but Rita knew she had almost gone too far. Frustrated, she glared down over her shoulder, whispering to herself "…what the hell does she see in him?"

"It's alright. He didn't do it on purpose. Besides, there are more important things than how or what I'm feeling." Estelle sighed, having not heard Rita's comment. She raised her eyes to the sun, basking in its warmth and light as the cold morning began to recede. She spoke, this time without looking at Rita, "Something is really going on, and there is no way Yuri could just ignore that…"

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><p>"You're weird."<p>

Yuri raised an eyebrow, looking down and to his right at the little ten year old boy with the golden hair and silver eyes. It had been early morning when they had left behind the remains of the small serf village, and now they were walking through the plains in the middle of the day in the sweltering heat, the sun beating down on them.

"And why is that?" The tall swordsman asked in amusement, watching Repede easily fend off a few monsters. The dog trotted back over to him, sliding his weapon smoothing into its scabbard. Repede rubbed his head affectionately against Yuri's leg, before bounding ahead once again.

"You haven't asked anything about me except for my name and what happened back at the village." Ryker muttered, looking at him as I he were some odd species of animal as they moved across the windless plains. The boy brushed some golden hair from his face, tucking it behind his ear as Yuri glanced over at him. "Most people are always asking weird questions."

"Do you want me to ask those weird questions?" The swordsman chuckled, rolling his shoulders. He could feel the soft earth through his boots, his feet sinking a little into the ground with every step he took. Honestly, he was rather curious about Ryker's situation, but it was really none of his business.

"Not really." The boy replied, tearing his eyes away and instead focusing on the ground, a little embarrassed. Yuri noticed the boy's clothes were torn in several places, covered in mud and blood, and frayed at the edges. Had he got that while at the village, or, perhaps, there was even more to the boy' story. But it wasn't any of his business.

"Then don't bring it up." Yuri said, noticing a faint blue-gray shape darting towards them and looked over the horizon. A faint smile emerged and he grabbed the young boy's shoulder. Ryker looked up to him, bemused, as Yuri jerked his head towards the horizon. "Look, there's Halure."

The boy quickly looked upwards as Halure came into view. His jaw dropped and eyes widened as a cloud of pink petals carried on the breeze drifted on around them. Ryker reached into the pink luluria petal cloud with a small, trembling hand as it slipped on by. He opened his hand to see a slightly smashed luluria petal.

"Wow, it's so pretty." Ryker says in awe, cradling the tiny petal in his small hands. A sudden gust of wind tore through the flatlands, ripping the luluria petals from the ground and the boy's hands. Ryker gasped in surprise as the gust nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Yes they are." Yuri laughed as the boy struggled to his feet, the gust dying down. They were almost to the town now, having hurried their pace when the town had come into view. The taller swordsman looked down at Ryker, his long obsidian hair falling forward with his head. "Anyway, you might want to start thinking about what you want to do."

"I…huh?" Ryker exclaimed, looking up at Yuri in surprise. The swordsman quickly figured that the boy probably had not ever been asked to make his own decision. Sighing, Yuri rubbed the back of his head as Ryker continued, his silver eyes confused. "Uh, what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, you know, such as where you want to go and what you want to do." Yuri suggested, the three of them finally entering the city. Repede was now trotting lazily beside the swordsman's feet and to the left, though taking precaution to avoid getting underfoot. To Yuri's right, the small boy looked up at the tall swordsman in wonder.

"I'm an orphan, I have nowhere to go." Ryker muttered, trying not to show the small glimmer of hope in his eyes. But it was too late, Yuri had already seen it. They stopped for a moment, just outside the headman's residence. Ryker and Repede both looked at Yuri in confusion.

"Eeh, So am I. And I turned out alright." Yuri said, shrugging again. A few luluria petals landed in his hair, quickly, he ran his fingers through it. It was rather long, and, he noticed for the first time, incredibly thick. Sighing slightly to himself, he turned back to Ryker, "So what do you want to do?"

"…I want to join a guild!" Ryker exclaimed in joy as the threesome continued their leisurely pace past the headman's residence. The boy was rather excited, his usually suspicious silver eyes shining in delight and face set with determination. Yuri smiled; the boy was a lot more likeable when like this.

"A certain guild in mind?"

"Yeah! People say they're very strong!" Ryker exclaimed, jumping in the air where he stood. This boy must have a rather strong desire to join the guild, whatever guild it was. Ryker, however, continued on, closing his eyes for a moment as he listed off several of his dream guilds qualities "And smart, and brave, and merciful, and just, and…"

"Enough, I get it already." Yuri laughed, interrupting the boy. Ryker glanced over his shoulder, eyes inquisitive as the swordsman continued, a tone in his voice that had been absent just before now. "What is it called, the guild that is? I might be able to help you." Yuri said as the boy beside him, for the first time, smiled.

"Yuri?"

The world around him froze and everything suddenly became slow.

The swordsman slowly turned his head, noticing that his hand was on a wooden railing and below him was gorge of sorts. A pair of dainty familiar feet and the bottom of a dress he well recognized made him go numb. Without even thinking about what was happening, he took in the pink and white dress and the pink tresses. Slowly, Yuri lifted his obsidian eyes to those of emerald, before uttering, as if out of breath;

"Estelle?"

What the hell was she doing here? Why wasn't she in the castle, where it was safe? No, it wasn't up to him what she would do with her life, but, he knew Flynn would have never let her leave with the state of the empire. It was just too dangerous. Honestly, he was overjoyed to see her, but there was also a strange ache that he didn't understand.

But before either of them could take another step closer, or speak another word, from the sky and out of the blue, a man landed between them with a sudden crash, shaking the earth and knocking the small boy beside Yuri off of his feet. A long, shaggy mane of grey hair hid the man's face from view, but his showy red and black amour and guild tattoo on his right deltoid told his story.

"Well, well, there you are…" The man spoke with a voice much like a guttural growl. Yuri blinked, slightly confused for a moment of just who this man was speaking to, until he noticed Ryker hiding behind him, face pale and shaking in a cold sweat. What the hell was going on? The man with the shaggy hair threw his head back and laughed, "Come back now and no one will get hurt."

"I…I won't go back!" The boy yelled, his voice shaking again. His face had gone white, and his eyes were wide in terror. Yuri could only watch in confusion, but the seeds of annoyance were already festering in his stomach. Something was definitely not right with this situation. He would focus on Estelle after this was dealt with.

"You selfish little brat," The man snarled, his face finally visible. He had almond shaped golden eyes, tanned skin and a puncture scar on the right side of his face, on his jaw. The man raised an eyebrow when Ryker only hid behind Yuri further. He leaned foreword, narrowing his eyes, before taunting, "Don't you care if anyone dies!"

"I…" Ryker faltered, his shoulders sagging a little.

"So come on-" The man growled impatiently, striding up past Yuri, his long grey hair flowing with his movement as he grabbed the child forcefully by the shoulder, "Don't make this any harder on you than it has to be, runt." He was about to pull the child towards him when someone interfered.

"Hey, he said he doesn't want to go with you." The tall, dark haired swordsman said sternly, his eyes meeting with the other man's challengingly. Ryker looked up at Yuri pleadingly, as if begging him not to get involved. The young boy's worry was written all across his face, but Yuri ignored it.

"Stay out of it you." The shaggy man growled, holding Yuri's gaze. Not backing down. He squared his shoulders and leaned towards the swordsman with a scowl. He scowled, tilting his head back a little, allowing his grey hair to slide over his shoulder. "Do you even know who I am?"

"No and I really don't care." Yuri hissed in retaliation, his grip on his sword tightening. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins; he could feel everything around him. He felt a sense of wariness as the man straightened up and smiled at him, an insane glint in his eyes.

"My orders are to retrieve the boy by any means necessary…" The man giggled, sounding like a child with his very first toy. Yuri abruptly felt like he had somehow got himself into yet another horrible mess. Ignoring the small shock of pain from the star shaped mark on his chest; he tried instead to focus on the man before him.

The man raised his meaty fist, a psychotic grin on his face. The swordsman only vaguely realized what the unkempt man was planning. He lunged forward unthinkingly, pushing the boy behind him into Repede and sending them both sprawling off the bridge and on to the earth. But it was too late, and the man smashed his fist into the wooden bridge.

There was a loud cracking noise that pierced the very air, muffling Repede's yelp as Ryker landed on him a few feet away. There was a moment of silence as the villagers of Halure turned into onlookers. The bridge beneath the woman, unkempt man and the swordsman split slowly, before beginning to disinigrate beneath them.

Yuri moved quickly off the bridge as it collapsed into the ravine, and in his panicked state instantaneously thought of Estelle. His heartbeat quickening, Yuri swiftly snapped his head up to see her on the other side of the ravine, out of breath and surprised, but seemingly in one piece. He felt a weight being removed from his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

Rage raced through him as the man just stood at the edge of the gorge, laughing crazily, waving his hands in the air around his head flamboyantly. It didn't seem to bother that asshole that he had just nearly killed three people, two of them being a woman and a child.

"What the hell was that for? You could've killed someone!" Yuri yelled, feeling thoroughly pissed off at this point. He wouldn't say no if that bastard wanted to fight, especially after that last little stunt he had pulled. The man paused to look at him and Yuri felt his eye twitch at the arrogance that was rolling off of the scruffy man before him.

"I'm Asalle of Savage Wolf," The man laughed like a hyena, tucking some of his unkempt hair behind his ears, his eyes dilating in delight as he reached for the fang like albeit strangely shaped weapon at his waist. Asalle cracked his neck, the sound reverberating painfully across the lower half of Halure, "and I'll kill anyone who stands in my way."

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><p>AN: Now the real fun begins! (I love writing action scenes!) Please tell me, did I do okay on Rita? Any thoughts on the baddie? How bout the boy?

**"You fool, this boy is the one who really killed those pathetic villagers!"**

**"I'll save him, or I'll have forsaken the laws of Brave Vesperia."**

**"So these are your true colors, Suingam."**

Next Time: the Separation: Suingam I


	8. The Separation: Suingam I

A/N: Hello, hello, thank you all so much! I'm thankful for every PM, Review, Fave, and Sub. It is what keeps me going.

This is for anonymous reviewers who I cannot respond to VIA PM.

Aisu: Yes! You noticed! XD Actually, I have several Easter egg, usually more than one per chapter. They can be as complex as a certain flower on a dress and its meaning, colors on a wall and its meaning or as simple as the initials of someone's name spelling out what kind of person they are. I also make a lot of references.

SomtinERanother: Haha! I remember laughing the first time I read your review. Sorry, he won't be getting any yet...yet. Thank you also for your view on my writing. I dislike my own writing so that cheered me up. I'm going to see if I can't do some sort of mix between clear and poetic, since I also usually like poetic writing.

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><p>"I don't give a damn who the hell you think you are." The swordsman snarled. He threw his weapon in the air then caught it by the handle before then swinging the sword in a wide arc, the scabbard flying off in one smooth motion. Yuri widened his stance, allowing his weapon to lay lax against his shoulder. "But if you want to fight so badly, who am I to stop you?"<p>

"Hah! You're an idiot!" The savage wolf guild member cackled, grasping the handle of his weapon, angling his arm as he pulled the weapon from its horizontal sheath. Asalle held the sabre before him, his stance wide and aggressive. "But if you want to die so badly, who am I to stop you?"

"We'll see about that."

Asalle smirked, fluidly thrusting his chest and head forward and low almost as if he was bowing. His arms remained pinned to his sides, his weapon behind him. His powerful legs propelled him forward swiftly, his hair flowing with the little resistance it met. Yuri prepared for the oncoming assault, estimating Asalle's moves.

"Azure storm!" Yuri yelled, swinging once powerfully, sending out a shockwave. Asalle quickly raised his guard, raising his weapon and bringing it down just as intensely to cut through the shockwave. The savage wolf smirked arrogantly until the swordsman shouted, "And another!" The swordsman leant forward, bending his knee and swinging Flamberge forcefully once again.

Asalle, albeit surprised, instinctively let his left leg collapse, his body falling down and to the left, avoiding the second shockwave narrowly. He fell to the ground with a small crash, rolling on his side and back up onto his feet. Brushing some of his hair out of his face, the savage wolf member again charged towards Yuri.

"Azure blast!" Yuri shouted as Asalle approached. He bent his body backwards, loosing his footing slightly, and then slashed downwards to the ground stalwartly. Asalle, once again just barely dodged the attack, having spun around to Yuri's nearly defenseless side. His footing stable once again, Yuri glanced up over his shoulder in shock to see his opponent raising his weapon.

Ah, shit.

"Slashing claw!" Asalle bellowed as he lunged forward. The savage wolf member, with his hair covering his psychotic grin, threw his arms back and swung his sabre in a wide arc, generating a small shockwave that destroyed half of the general store Regulus, sending the owner of the place scurrying off in fear.

The swordsman promptly back stepped, unable to fully dodge the attack, a small gash along his right side. Yuri heard someone gasp in horror but ignored it, instead checking on the wound on his side. The cut stung a little and was bleeding profusely, but it was not serious. It would take days to wash the blood out of his clothes.

Yuri glanced upwards where his opponent had been last and immediately put up his guard when he saw that the savage wolf member had disappeared. He heard something dropping from the sky and on impulse raised is sword above his head just in time to counter Asalle's attack. Yuri grunted, grinding his teeth before throwing his opponent off.

Yuri realized needed to lure this man out of the town. It wasn't at all safe to fight here; Estelle, the boy and the villagers could easily get caught in the crossfire. Besides, it seemed that it was clearly obvious that this man had little to no regard for life.

He glanced at Repede. The dog was standing protectively in from of Ryker and near where the bridge had been until Asalle had destroyed it. Meeting his eyes for a few moments, the dog quickly understood what the swordsman wanted to be done. Grabbing the boy by the back of his shirt and ignoring his protests, Repede dragged him towards the remains of Regulus and away from the battle as Yuri instinctively countered Asalle's attacks.

Well, it was a little safer over there at least. But what about Estelle? He hadn't got a good look at her earlier so he did not really know if he was really okay or not. Was she safe, or at least safer? He risked a glance to settle the uneasy feeling in his gut, glimpsing over his shoulder to the other side of the small chasm.

Estelle looked alright, a little bruised and dirty, but she seemed like she hadn't been majorly hurt. She was watching the fight, her hand on her rapier that was strapped around her waist and her shield already on her left arm. What was she doing, it's not like she could get across that ravine. Actually, knowing her she might actually try.

Their eyes met in a clash of emerald and obsidian, she was worried about him but also, he could see her unwavering, standing by as a silent support in case the fight ran afoul. It wasn't a battle for anyone's honor; there was a young boy's future at stake here.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and her mouth uttered an unspoken warning. Yuri blocked Asalle's thrust as he attacked again. Dammit, he had got distracted; he couldn't afford to get distracted. Estelle would be fine for now as long as she kept out of the fight. Throwing Asalle off his blade, the swordsman was not prepared for the next strike.

The savage wolf member rolled in midair, throwing out his left leg directly into Yuri's face. The impact was jarring, sending him flying down the hill, landing hard against the earth and then rolling down the abrasive terrain until he hit the bottom of the hill. Yuri grit his teeth in pain, his head still spinning from the blow.

Ah, fuck that hurt.

He didn't have any time to get up before Asalle was on top of him, delivering blow after blow. He couldn't fight back; he couldn't feel his arms, were they being sat on or something? Black stars exploded before his eyes as he lost consciousness and his mind and body went numb.

He had no idea how long he was out, but when consciousness returned to him the first thing he realized was that Asalle wasn't punching him. His mind still half-numb, Yuri gazed upwards to see the somewhat blurry figure of Asalle raising his weapon over his head, preparing to decapitate his prey.

Like hell.

Waking up almost instantly as adrenaline really rushed through his body, Yuri sent his fist up into Asalle's jaw. The force of the blow coupled with the shock caused the savage wolf to drop guard and nearly drop his blade. Yuri drew back his fist and pummeled Asalle across the face, further knocking his attacker off balance. Yuri reached for the handle of Asalle's sword, having no clue where the hell his went.

He grasped the handle just as the savage wolf's senses returned to him, and the two wrestled for a few minutes, exchanging blows in the dirt. Finally, Yuri finally fought free of the entanglement, alive. Gasping deeply, he noticed Flamberge on the ground a few feet away from where he was standing.

Asalle wasn't going to attack just yet, he could tell. They were both too out of breath. Yuri bent down a little, his fingers brushing the hilt of his sword. He picked it up, watching Asalle cautiously as he straightened his posture.

Both of them stood opposite from each other, both of them analyzing the other. They fought too similarly, their styles countering each other. Yuri's flame element sword had little effect on Asalle's earth element sword, the swordsman's punches on par with the savage wolf's kicks, their strength seemingly matched. They were not going to get anywhere if this continued.

Only then did Yuri remember. The circular mark on Asalle's right deltoid, the symbol of savage wolf, he had seen it before. He had seen it recently. A yesterday morning sort of recently. He could feel a storm brewing inside of him, powered by the memories of the small serf village and the sight of a small boy crying inside a shell of blankets.

"That mark…." The swordsman hissed, his already black eyes darkening further. Barely concealing his bubbling rage as fuzzy visions of the villagers hanging from the tree haunted him, the headman with his eyes burned out and tongue cut out, a humiliating sign looped around his neck. "It was on the….sign…"

"Oh, this?" Asalle panted, jerking his head towards his right deltoid. He seemed hardly surprised that his opponent recognized it. A fond smile that didn't seem to suit him split open across his face as he glanced over to Yuri, saying proudly as his left hand gently touched the tattoo. "This is…the mark of savage wolf."

"Did you kill those villagers?" He wasn't in the mood to cater to an enemy's nostalgia about how they got their mark or what a great guild they were in. A village of people had been killed in cold blood in inhumane ways and Yuri wanted answers. Asalle blinked for a moment, before his look of serenity was replaced with his more fitting devilish smile.

"Hmmm, I guess you could phrase it like that." The savage wolf shrugged nonchalantly, stirring up the hornets nest inside of his opponent. Asalle readied his sabre, ignoring his opponent's anger. His bronze blade shone in the sunlight, casting a radiant golden glow.

"Why did you kill them?" He had to remain calm for now; he already knew that this man had slaughtered the villager. The savage wolf had even admitted it, showing no remorse for his actions. But from Ryker's account, it didn't seem like the village had been plundered, merely destroyed. Why would someone go through all the trouble? Yuri thrust Flamberge before himself aggressively. Flamberge appeared to glow under the light, seemingly appearing to be a blade of flame in the daylight.

"Fool; this boy is the one who really killed those pathetic villagers!" Asalle snorted, laughing and pointing back over his shoulder at Repede and Ryker. The two of them stood silently, observing the battle from a safe distance. Honestly, Ryker looked as innocent as a baby bunny, and Yuri just couldn't imagine the boy to have a malicious intent.

Then again, he had only known the boy for about a day now.

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked, darting towards his opponent, sword in hand. He slashed downwards, striking at Asalle's chest. The savage wolf blocked the assault with his sabre's hilt, almost catching Flamberge in its complicated structure. Yuri staggered for a moment before regaining his momentum, planting his feet firmly into the ground and twisting his body powerfully, this time thrusting into the savage wolf's stomach.

"He knew that I'd kill them if he hid there….so why did he hide there?" Asalle taunted, knocking away Yuri's thrust with the tip of his weapon before attacking in return. The swordsman blocked the onslaught. However, Asalle remained unfazed instead, he jeered at Yuri. "But you don't know anything about that, do you? You don't even know what that boy is!"

Then what was the boy? Yuri wished that instead of these incomprehensible riddles that people would just say the truth already. Even so, Ryker had already made his choice clear; he obviously had no wish to go with the savage wolf member, and Yuri would help defend that choice.

Instead he would concentrate on finding his opponents weakness, leaning his body forward as he slashed at his opponent endlessly. Blow by blow, he watched Asalle and Asalle watched him; both of them evaluate the other for a flaw, any flaw. He thrust his sword again, this time hoping to actually hit his opponent.

However, Asalle jumped over the attack, kicking his leg out towards Yuri's face. Quickly, Yuri raised his right arm vertically, blocking the forceful attack. He didn't register the pain that came with it, but instead focused on throwing the Savage wolf off. Asalle, using Yuri's arm, kicked off, flying through the air and then spinning to land on his feet, followed by a burst of power and speed at his landing to once again dash towards his adversary.

"Dual claw!" Asalle sneered, his attack wide and open. However, before his enemy could attack, he had slashed his foe across the chest, crossing his arms and throwing his spinning blade into the air. Then, he caught the revolving weapon with his left hand and slashed diagonally and to the right, forming an x shaped wound on Yuri's chest. He smiled wide as blood freely flowed from the wound, "So why are you so insistent on helping that little whelp?"

"It would be wrong to stand by and let you take that child when he clearly did not wish to accompany you!" Yuri growled, surprised by the pain. It seemed Asalle was effective at inflicting several light wounds but few serious ones. He was beginning to understand how his enemy fought."Wailing Havoc!"

Yuri barreled his fist into Asalle's jaw again, throwing the savage wolf into the air. Yuri followed, spinning his body and delivering a powerful kick before twisting his body once more to deliver a powerful slash. Asalle landed hard on the ground, a nice large bloody gash across his chest.

The man on the ground groaned as Yuri landed a tad out of breath and the gashes on his chest like red hot needles prodding him. Asalle, in pain, slowly rose to his feet; Yuri's attack being more deadly than Asalle's series of blows. Hurriedly, the savage wolf shoved his hand into what seemed to be a supply bag, Yuri followed suit.

Holding the translucent red gel in his hand, the swordsman shoved it in his mouth, doing his best to ignore the taste. He could already feel the bleeding stop, at least for the time being. The blood at the incision were starting to thicken, another apple gel and they would scab over and begin to fully heal.

Feeling much more confident now that he at least had a remote idea of what exactly to do, Yuri sliced right through Asalle's attack, watching the savage wolf's moves carefully, preparing for the next strike.

"Come on, bring it!" Yuri taunted, Flamberge nested on his shoulder as he leant in, beckoning Asalle to fight. The savage wolf did not need to be told twice, and Yuri quickly blocked Asalle's wide strike. Yuri sliced upwards, casting Asalle into the air, and then slashed again before punching him back down to earth. "Tiger blade!"

The savage wolf groaned, planting his hand on the ground to help steady him as he attempted to stand up. Asalle looked up to see Yuri running towards him, already ready to attack. The savage wolf growled, blood dripping from his wounds as he reached for his sabre.

"Rending Wolf Charge!" The swordsman bellowed, punching his opponent several times. Yuri twisted his body before powerfully striking the ground with his fist, an energy wave resembling a wolf knocking his opponent backwards and to the ground once again. Yuri straightened his posture, spinning his sword in front of his defensively as Asalle whirled in the air.

"Piercing Claw!" Asalle swung his sabre, trying to hook it into Yuri's side, only to have it swiped away. "Idiot," The savage wolf panted, ducking yet another of his opponents blows, "You don't understand, do you? That boy is not human! It doesn't matter what he wants!"

"I don't care about that!" Yuri retaliated as he unleashed an offensive of constant slashes and strikes. "Human, Kritiyan, Entelexeia, even monsters, everybody should be allowed to make their own choices!" The swordsman snarled, jumping and flipping in the air, slamming Flamberge onto the ground with incredible power, "Destruction Field!"

"You'll regret saying that." The savage wolf retorted as he jumped out of the way, avoiding Yuri's attack. Asalle sliced downwards with his sabre, Yuri blocked it, thrusting towards his opponent's stomach but the savage wolf knocked the attack away. "He's a being that cannot possibly understand what it means to be human…if you help him; your only reward is death." Asalle attacked, feinting, then leaped backwards and dashed forward again, slicing through the air. "Lunging Claw!"

"We'll see about that." The swordsman said, managing to dodge the attack without getting injured. He leant downwards, slashing at the savage wolf's feet as to disturb his opponents balance.

Asalle back flipped out of the way once more, before rushing towards him, his characteristic wide swing in action, his clothes and armor were coated in mud and blood from the fight that had seemingly been going on for eternity. "Slashing Claw!"

The swordsman could see it though, they were nearing the end of their battle. Asalle's wide stance left him open to quick strike attacks if slipped in at the appropriate time. That time was now. Yuri sliced through Asalle's side before the savage wolf himself knew what was happening, then slashed again from behind. "Ghost wolf!" The swordsman roared as his foe staggered. Yuri smirked as the perfect moment for a fatal strike emerged and readied himself, ready to dart forward again and win when-

"Piercing Fang!"

Yuri felt his mind go blank abruptly, both surprising him and causing him to stumble backwards as he tried to understand what had just happened. He glanced over his shoulder slowly, seeing a young man with silver hair yank a rapier out of his back. Then, an explosion of pain traveled through his body like wildfire as he felt a steady stream of blood flow down his back.

His world went blurry, words slurred into nonsense, someone was slashing at him but he didn't feel any pain, he could not see anything but he knew precisely where everything was. His thoughts were silent as instinct controlled his every move. He had had this sensation before, but when? Where?

Yuri could only see red, he felt his boy moving, attacking but wasn't sure what exactly he was attacking. An incredible power was surging through his veins, controlling his body. At that moment, he knew that with this power, he could have anything and everything he had ever wanted. All he had to do was give in to this power...

"Yuri!"

The red before his eyes shattered like glass, falling in shards around him as color returned. It was just like the time he had attacked Flynn, but this time Estelle had called out to him, was she in danger? Had he hurt her? His heart nearly stopped at the frightening thought and he lurched slightly backwards, confused on what had just happened to him.

Yuri glanced downwards when he felt warm liquid running down his chest, had he been that beat up when he had lost it? He did not remember. Bringing a hand up to his chest, he pressed against his skin and then held it out in front of him, watching the blood run down his hand in almost a morbid fascination.

Then, the pain returned to him, so intense that it quickly became dull. Just like the time when he had first met that woman that had cursed him in the first place, he had already forgotten her name. Yuri growled in frustration, realizing that he was nearly incapable of movement.

"No wonder you supported that monster," Asalle was in even worse shape than the swordsman was, though. The savage wolf, however, could still move despite the pain, and shoved a mélange gel into his mouth. Asalle coughed, eating another gel in spite of its taste. Yuri hissed, taking a sluggish step towards his enemy as Asalle laughed, "You're a monster yourself!"

What did he mean by that?

"Put me down!"

That was Ryker! Yuri spun around as swiftly as he could, which wasn't very swift, his body swaying as he faced Halure. He could see a man with short white hair wearing the same armor as Asalle throwing the small boy over his shoulder with his right hand, the rapier in his left stained with blood.

Where was Estelle? Where was Repede? He hoped that man had not attacked them, not even considering the possibility that the man had been the one to attack him just minutes ago. The other savage wolf turned to him, Ryker thrown over his shoulder.

"Asalle, lets get out of here!" The white haired man yelled loudly from the top of the hill, catching Asalle's attention. The savage wolf turned to face his supposed fellow guild member in shock. "We got our target, lets scram before you almost get yours ass killed again!"

"Aww, fine, fine." Asalle almost pouted, sheathing his sabre. He glanced back at Yuri with a smirk. "You got lucky this time." He muttered, turning away to leave, "or I would say. But, I think someone might be interested in you, monster."

What did he mean by that?

No, he shouldn't worry about that right now. Where were they taking the boy? What about Repede and Estelle? As the savage wolf guild members fled the village, Yuri saw Repede limping towards him, a small gash across his shoulder. As relieved as he was, he still had a mission to accomplish.

"Follow them, Repede!" Yuri gasped, collapsing to his knees from the smarting of his wounds. Repede understood, but first approached him and rummaged through their travel pack with his head, before pulling out a lemon gel and casting Yuri a look. Repede swallowed it, howled, and bounded off after Savage Wolf.

Slowly, Yuri reached into his travel pack and grabbed his last clear yellow gel. He popped it into his mouth, slowly chewing on it and blanching in disgust at the overwhelming sour taste. However, he knew that his wounds, although somewhat serious, wouldn't bleed any longer unless he irritated them, and already, the lighter ones were beginning to heal.

"Are you all right?" The kindly mayor asked, hobbling up to the injured swordsman from his hiding place. He was wringing his hands and looking at Yuri in concern as Yuri remained motionless, still feeling the effects of the lemon gel, his minor injuries almost completely healed.

Yeah, I'm fine." Yuri muttered, slowly rising to his feet and dusting off his bloody clothes. He cringed when he felt the sting from the residual unhealed wounds, but brushed it off. He supposed he would just have to eat a lot of those disgustingly sweet apple gels.

"Don't tell me you are going after those men?" The elderly man asked, recoiling in astonishment, his actions reflecting those of the townspeople.

"I have to." Yuri replied, trying to hide his displeasure with how the situation had turned out. Even if he was winning the battle, the moment that the boy had been taken, he was losing the war. The only reason he had fought Asalle in the first place was to make sure he didn't get his hands on Ryker. But he had failed in even that.

"For that boy?"

"I'll save him, or I'll have forsaken the laws of Brave Vesperia." Yuri said as he reached into his wallet, retrieving twenty thousand gald. The swordsman snatched a bag from his travel pack, slipping the gald into it. He then handed the bag of gald to the astonished elder. "Here, this should cover the damages that that man and I caused."

"This is too much!" The mayor insisted.

"Please take it." Yuri was adamant, turning away from the elder as he tried to hand it back to him, "Regulus was completely destroyed, as well as some other parts of property. This is the least I can do."

He walked away from the headman who was proclaiming on how they would never forget his kindness among other praises. Yuri didn't care about that, he had to save Ryker, and the boy had been so unwavering about not wanting to accompany Asalle. He had failed the boy, that truth hurt more than his wounds.

Someone was watching him, and he already knew whom it was, even before he looked over his shoulder and to the inn.

Estelle stood alone, watching him with pleading eyes, begging for him to stay. He wanted to, he wanted to go up there right now and tell her everything. He hated having to be secretive like he was being forced to. But he couldn't say a word to her he couldn't even try. Ignoring the tightness in his chest, he faced out to the plains once more, whispering more to himself than her, "I'm sorry, Estelle."

* * *

><p>Lord Suingam, you've returned!" A trembling voice that echoed welcomed the looming hulk of a man as he walked in through the door of the compound. The room the man stood in was a dull yellow with no windows, large and cavernous. Several strange machines lined the walls and two long tables ran through the center of the room.<p>

"Is it just me or is something wrong with your voice?" Suingam chuckled, leaning forward to and down to the other man's height; his scarlet red hair falling over is shoulders. The shorter man stiffened in fear and backed away trembling and in a cold sweat.

"Well it's just that it's rather early for you to have returned. Usually you stay in the capital for weeks at a time," The man said slicking back his blond hair and adjusting his cuffs. His brown eyes were downturned, frightened of the man's wrath before him and dreading delivering the bad news. "And, well, there seems to have been some sort of complication with our first product."

"What do you mean complication?" Suingam snarled, narrowing his blood red eyes and glaring at the shorter man as he cowered beneath his gaze. Suingam breathed deeply, harshly, and the shorter man tried to put on a pleasant façade.

"Well…Ravk's present to us escaped somehow…." He said, clasping his pale hands together and bowing his head apologetically, although scared stiff of what might happen to him. "We're afraid he slipped past the guards on the unloading dock after somehow slipping out of his cell on the voyage."

"Escaped? What do you mean escaped?" The elite scowled, banging his fist into the steel wall, the sound reverberating and echoing throughout the room. He turned back to the smaller, cringing man, "I cannot tolerate this! If the others found out, what do you think would happen! I demand this boy be returned at once!"

"Don't worry. It seems that Asalle and Ilse found the little shit."

Suingam and the little man turned to the sound of the voice. From the opposite side of the room, a man ambled in through the arched doorway and into the shadow. He stood there for several moments, wearing a smirk that was barely visible in the darkness as Suingam stared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Come out into the light." Suingam commanded the other. The blond man calmed slightly upon the sight of the new arrival and bowed his head respectfully momentarily. Suingam stared at the other man for several moments tensely and the minutes seemed to drag by although it was only a few seconds.

"Fine, fine." The other man chuckled, stepping forward and out of the shadows. He had gorgeous silver shoulder length hair like the moonlight, ivory skin like a porcelain doll, and pale green eyes. He was well built, tall but not too tall, and just muscular enough. He wore a sleeveless indigo button up shirt, silver armor, and spikes on his shoulders. His trousers were blue also, with white boots.

"Good." Suingam sighed, walking past the small bond man and towards the other one in the center of the room. He rotated his massive shoulders, as he passed the man in blue armor, "I am already irritated thanks to that foolish royal family and that damn commandant; the last thing I need is a hitch in our plans…"

"Yes, yes. The princess ran away didn't she?" The silver haired male said as Suingam ambled past him with a slight smirk, his pale green eyes lighting up tauntingly. Then, the man laughed lightly, almost jokingly, "Now isn't that strange that she decides to run away only after you've chosen her a suitor?"

"When that brat gets here, prepare him for the testing…" The elite muttered ignoring the silver haired man's words in annoyance. He reached into his breast pocket and dragged out a fat cigar, and touched his fingers to the tip of it. Seconds later, a steady stream of smoke curled up to the sky, and Suingam held the cigar up to his mouth, taking in a deep lungful. "It'd be just like Ravk to somehow corrupt my sample to throw me off, that bastard."

"Yes, yes we'll get on that right away…" The cowardly man said, bowing his head several times as Suingam left the room, grateful to be alive. The door at the other end of the room slammed shut, and the blond man turned to the other. "Ah, Alpha, when will the omega's return with the child?"

"Less than an hour at the rate they are traveling."

"Ahh that's good, the sooner the better, after we make sure Ravk hasn't contaminated the subject, we can begin our own testing." The man said with a smile, walking past the silver haired male and throwing his hands up into the air, "We will not be bound by the others and lord Suingam and his brilliantness will earn him the seat at the top of the council!"

Alpha smiled amicably as the blond man passionately went on about Lord Suingam this and Lord Suingam that, practically dancing around the room. The silver haired male just stood there, nodding at all the right times and clapping at the appropriate moments, always with that amicable smile, seemingly agreeing with everything that was being said or spoken of.

So he's planning on betraying his peers? Are these your true colors, Suingam? The words flared up like a warning, once uttered then easily forgotten.

* * *

><p>AN: I...promise to never do a chapter like this again! I love fight scenes but that was simply too long for me. So what did you think?

**"Lets hurry, or he'll get away!"**

**"He's a fool. He keeps doing the same thing over again and he keeps expecting a different result."**

**"This is getting interesting."**

Next Time: The Separation: Suingam II, Flames


	9. The Separation: Suingam II : Flames

A/N: Phew. Sorry if this seems a little hurried, I had to cut out half the chapter because it was getting too long and I might as well make it two chapters...so Suingam's arc will be three chapters long... Please, enjoy.

SomtinERanother: Ryker's identity, well, the exacting truth will be revealed before too long. Also, he's ten years old, just like you guessed!

* * *

><p>"Estelle, where are you going?" Rita yelled from the doorway of Denebola as Estelle foolishly darted down Halure's steep slope. The mage, indignant, quickly grabbed her book and darted down the stairway, following the pink haired girl as she took off down the steep hill.<p>

"Yuri was just here!" Estelle shouted back, her voice sounding rushed as she carefully scaled the dangerous hill, not noticing the scratches she gained from the random weeds dotting the hill. Her voice was trembling, Rita noticed, almost panicked, "If I don't hurry I'll loose sight of him!"

"What? Estelle, wait!" The mage yelled, somewhat confused. Yuri had just been here? How the hell had she missed that, and why did Estelle not got her when that idiot had made his appearance? Rita shook her head firmly; she needed to focus on catching her runaway friend. "Estelle!"

However, due to her lack of attention to her surroundings, the younger girl found herself pivoting forward and down to the harsh, rock, weed, and root riddled earth, crashing into it quite unceremoniously. A few thorns from the weeds dug into and ripped her skin, a few of the pointed rocks leaving definite marks on her slender legs. Rita bit her lip as the harsh sting of tears met her eyes; she refused to cry.

Rita heard the sound of soft, yet hurried footsteps reverberating through the hard earth as a shadow fell over her. She felt a tremor of happiness as she glanced upwards to see a small white gloved hand extended towards her. Smiling slightly, Rita took the gentle hand and pulled herself up.

"Come on, let's go Rita." Estelle's voice was firm, yet gentle. Rita blinked for a moment in shock as the feeling from before returned with a vengeance. This was not the same Estelle that she had parted ways with a little over a year ago. She was much more…Rita couldn't find the word.

"Yes, lets hurry, or he'll get away!" The young mage agreed, her voice as sharp as ever as she shoved aside her thoughts and feelings. She could think about them later, catching up to the idiotic swordsman and getting down Halure's cursed slope was the priority at the moment.

The villagers watched he two girls in awe as they charily braved the dangerous incline that few had ever scaled. They put careful thought into every step and strategized ways around hazardous obstacles, such as the sudden cliffs, large thorn bushes and the occasional loose rocks.

Finally, Rita and Estelle were almost all the way down. All that stood in their way was a small cliff, only maybe a six foot drop to the bottom, a lush area of grass about knee high. Some sharp rocks could easily be hiding within the lush foliage and the mage was convinced that they should find another, safer way down.

But Yuri had already disappeared into the plains, and neither she nor Estelle were any good at tracking. Sure, they could tell basic things such as footprints in wet dirt, but the ground was drying. If they had any hope of catching up to him, they would have to hurry; they didn't have time to find another route.

Estelle did not hesitate, and despite her friend's warnings, jumped over the edge of the small precipice. Everyone held their breath as Estelle fell, albeit gracefully, through the air and landed on her feet with a gentle thump against the earth. There was a moment of strained silence, before the woman waved at her friend.

Rita breathed a sigh of relief and squashed her fears. Without thinking, she jumped over the edge of the overhang. It felt nice, falling, that is. The wind seemed to caress her oh so gently and even seemed to slow her somehow, although she was not quite sure how. Then, she was hit with the sudden, terrifying realization that she was falling, and fast.

Before she could, panic, she felt the grass slither up to her knees and her feet crash into the soft earth, she bent her knee's and let her body bend down, helping to absorb the shock of her sudden landing. She bounced back almost immediately, straightening her posture and blinking stupidly.

That had been somewhat…fun. Rita felt her heartbeat going a mile a minute, could hear it pounding in her ears. Her senses were heightened, her breathing heavy. She loved this feeling; she had not experienced it in quite some time now. She bet her eyes were sparkling as well.

"Yuri went that way." Estelle said from her left, her voice also a little breathy. Rita assumed she meant towards the mountains, towards where Aspio had once been. She seemed somewhat unsure, though, as if she was worried that her eyes had deceived her somehow, "At least, that's what it looked like…."

"Estelle…why exactly are you chasing after Yuri?" Rita was not sure if she was crossing any lines with this question, but she was curious. Logically, it seemed there was no reason for Estelle to chase after him. It appeared that Yuri had left on his own free will, and even if the circumstances were suspicious, it did not rule out the grim possibility.

"I can't just leave him alone. You know it too, Rita. Something is not right. He's acting odd." Estelle said, trying to articulate her thoughts, and Rita could tell that it was hard for her. At least this aspect of the old Estelle remained. "I know that I have to catch up with him and find out what's going on."

Rita sighed, she was a realist, and all the clues were pointing that the swordsman was doing whatever the hell he was doing on his own. Yes, the situation was rather strange, and she bet that is what Flynn had thought too when he had tried to stop Yuri from leaving Zaphias. But he had ended up, from what Estelle had told her, with a hole in his abdomen that had hospitalized him.

"Estelle, I…" Rita began, with half the mind to try and snap her friend out of her little fantasy, she stopped however, when Estelle's eyes met hers. Estelle was still so full of hope, clinging to the possibility of an explanation that would clear the swordsman. Simply put, the mage didn't have the heart to shatter her friend's idealistic dreams. She looked away from Estelle, muttering "Never mind."

"You don't have to go on with my selfishness, Rita." Estelle stopped, glancing back to Halure which now sat nearly on the horizon, much further and it would fade completely out of view. Rita glanced at her friend, had Estelle somehow sensed her emotional dilemma? "If there is something else you need to be doing, or if you don't want to come along, then, feel free."

Rita felt a surge of disappointment, directed towards herself. Why wasn't she being more supportive of Estelle? Besides, Rita reasoned with herself, she did not know all the factors, for all she knew, maybe Flynn was the bad guy, as unbelievable as that sounded. But it was a firm reminder to the mage that she did not know the circumstances to the situation.

But still, Yuri had acted suspiciously by leaving Flynn there to die…

"No, that's not it…" Rita sighed, somewhat uncomfortable as she and Estelle turned away from Halure and headed north of Aspio. "I only came to check up on you after all." She needed another reason, and scoured her mind for one; luckily, it was not long before one came to her in a stroke of genius, "Besides, if Yuri has broken the rules of Brave Vesperia, someone will need to hunt him down and give him a good ass kicking. It might as well be me."

* * *

><p>"Asalle, Ilse, welcome back." A woman with ivory skin whistled as the two men ambled into the pure white room. She lounged across a long, white sofa, playing with a strand of her long charcoal locks. Her jade eyes were focused on the tresses twisted around her finger, her red lips together in a smile. Behind her, on either side, sat two men, both of the men stared directly at Asalle and Ilse sternly.<p>

The woman wore a blue sleeveless dress that went down to her ankles with a sweetheart neckline and slits up to her thighs. White tights could be seen under her dress, as well as a white sleeveless turtleneck mesh under her dress. On her right deltoid, the symbols 'Άγριος λύκος' were printed in a circle, and then the symbol 'α' tattooed in the center.

The man on her right had soft, chin length shaggy grey hair like Asalle's and brown eyes. Even while sitting, he seemed short, his purple and gold armor seeming to engulf his skinny frame. On his right deltoid, the symbols 'Άγριος λύκος' were printed in a circle, and then the symbol 'β' tattooed in the center

On the woman's left was a man with short, straight black hair and brown eyes. He was of average height and well built. His armor fit him perfectly, unlike his companion. Strapped to his back was a giant, spiked mace. Tattooed on his right deltoid in a circle were the symbols 'Άγριος λύκος' with 'β' tattooed in the center.

"Thank you, Lady Alpha." Ilse said respectfully, bowing his head, his silver hair falling forward and shielding his face. From his right, Asalle snorted, glancing over his shoulder in annoyance. But soon enough, he too bowed his head in deference of their leader's presence.

"Show Lady Alpha more respect, Asalle!" The man with the mace snarled, leaning forward aggressively towards his fellow guild member. The woman, Alpha, said nothing and watched the scene curiously, almost observationally, as tension between the two members continued to escalate.

"I would if I weren't so pissed off," Asalle scowled in return at the man with the mace. The men's eyes met, and they both leaned forward, reaching for their weapons aggressively. "I could recover that little shit alone just fine, so why did you have to send Ilse after me?"

"Because we all know how much you love to get yourself into ridiculous fights." The woman replied, interrupting the men. They looked at her in surprise as she relaxed further, chuckling to herself. "In fact, you were probably in the middle of one when Ilse arrived, am I not mistaken? And because your fun was interrupted, you are angry?"

Asalle huffed and looked away childishly, crossing his arms across his chest and turning away. The woman blinked for a moment, cocking her head to the side slightly. Asalle continued to avoid her gaze. His actions were more than an adequate answer for the woman, who burst out laughing despite the looks the two men behind her cast her.

"You needn't worry though, Asalle." She said, looking up from under her eyelashes. "Your little friend from Halure has followed you here. He's here, in the compound as we speak." She giggled nonchalantly, reaching down from the sofa, her fingers skimming the snowy carpet before picking up a slender champagne glass full of blood red wine.

"I apologize, my lady." Ilse muttered, almost growling. The savage wolf raised his head, his golden eyes meeting with her jade ones as he gripped the handle of his rapier, "I thought for sure that my attack would have killed him. I did not expect him to survive. This time I shall finish the job."

"Don't go stealing other people's quarry!" Asalle barked, suddenly grabbing his partner by the collar and shaking him violently. Ilse scowled at him, as Asalle shook him roughly. The Savage Wolf growled, incensed, "Yuri Lowell is mine; if anything, I can take on that measly human!"

"And that is why you were getting your ass kicked, right?" Ilse scoffed, wrestling his partner away from him roughly and stumbling backwards away from him. He glared at Asalle, his lips pulled back in a furious snarl "So that's why you were about to die had I not saved your ass?"

"Stop it you two!" The man from Alpha's right yelled, glowering at the two of them. Asalle and Ilse stopped for a bit to look at him in shock. The grey haired male huffed, cling his eyes in irritation as Asalle and Ilse turned to face him. "Have you no shame, cursing in front of a lady?"

After a moment of silence, Ilse hung his head in shame and Asalle snorted, looking away with a huff while narrowing his eyes. The savage wolf focused on the wall instead, angry with his guild mate's reasoning. After all, a lady was the last thing he would call Alpha, she acted little like one.

"Why thank you, Marit." Alpha smiled pleasantly to her fellow guild member. He nodded in turn, bowing his head slightly in respect. The lady glanced over to Ilse and Asalle, still beaming as agreeably as ever. "Anyway, thanks to you, the omega's, the plan is back on track."

"Ah, Alpha," Asalle said suddenly, not caring how rude he was as something jogged his memory. The woman looked at him with a tint of curiosity in her eyes as a devilish smirk blossomed across his face, "There is something, rather, someone I found that might interest you…"

* * *

><p>Now just how the hell had he got himself into this? What the hell had he been thinking when he had decided to crawl through that already small and seemingly shrinking crevice after Repede instead of just sneaking through the nearby convenient maintenance doorways?<p>

Luckily, he hadn't slipped though the doorways as the doors had been, unsurprisingly, guarded by several burly savage wolf members with scary looking weapons. Yuri bet that the men themselves were nothing special, but he figured that their weapons could pack a wallop. Therefore, he figured that it might be better to avoid it all together.

Even so, he didn't have a plan or anything resembling a plan. He kept an eye on Repede who was trotting just ahead of him, alert for any signs of danger. Yuri was happy to have the companionship. As for the plan, well, it would come to him eventually, but usually, just winging it worked fine.

What the hell was he thinking?

He had tracked Repede all the way to this large compound hidden deep in the woods against the mountains on the cliffs above what used to be Aspio. Instantaneously after laying eyes on it, Yuri had dwelled upon the fact that Brave Vesperia had never seen it, nor even heard of it.

He swiftly dismissed those thoughts though; he was more than sure there was an abundance of locations that their guild had never chanced upon.

He darted suddenly to the shadows, lying as low and as quietly as he could as several loud and obnoxious men sauntered noisily past. Yuri wrinkled his nose in disgust as their stench surrounded and enveloped him. Although it was only shortly, it seemed to last a lifetime.

The moment the men were gone, he was back and up on his feet. He stepped warily, suspicious of the nearly miniscule strangle gem-like lights that adorned the concrete floors and the walls. The hall was tiny, and the further one went down it, the tighter it seemed to get.

An arched and heavily fortified metal bolted door loomed before him, popping up out of nowhere. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it sooner. Approaching the metal entryway, Yuri eyed it, wary. Something this heavy duty must be concealing something important. The only problem was getting past it.

A series of beeps enamentated from the door, and the bolts lit up in a shocking succession that began in the middle and reached outwards. Following the beeping was a sequence of clanking and creaking, the metal belts began spinning on the door in an impressive display of raw power. And only after Yuri pushed aside his awe only then did he realize that the door was opening.

Having nowhere better to hide, the swordsman pressed his back the wall and wedged himself as close to the door as possible without being noticeable. Yuri nearly gagged as a wave of warm, nauseatingly stinky air rushed out alongside loudly chattering decidedly masculine voices.

A few more of savage wolf walked on out of the room, seemingly unaffected by the disgusting smell from inside the room. They were spouting arrogant nonsense about the ranks of their 'Alpha', 'Beta' and 'Omega'. Thankfully, due to their juvenile boasting, they were paying little attention to anything else.

It was effortless to slip past them and into the revolting room.

This room had a low ceiling and a wide hallway and had an air of openness that the other hallway had lacked, even with the pillars that were placed every six feet of one another. The tiles on both the floors and the walls were a blue gray, only made all that more depressing by the lack of windows and sunlight.

Curious to find the source of the rancid stench, the swordsman scoped the room. It didn't take him long, his eyes narrowed in revulsion as he walked forward bravely. Hidden at first by the columns, he could now see a wall of people. Placed between every support, a starved and deathly thin human strung up by their wrists hung, silent as death itself.

It took him mere seconds to realize that every single one of those people were dead and rotting. As the smell and his emotions nearly overwhelmed him, he backed down and glanced away, his expression a mixture of disgust and pity.

What the hell was going on?

He stood for several moments, stuck. He wanted to take them down from there and give them a proper burial, but he would be caught by the Savage Wolf Guild in minutes. Repede whined, catching Yuri's attention, and then trotted around him, ears and tail downturned.

"I know, come on, lets get out of here." Yuri agreed gently, trying to hold his breath as so not to breathe in too much of that rotten odor. Repede whined again, and began trotting on ahead of Yuri, they both wanted out of there already.

Yuri followed Repede slowly, looking at all the bodies lined up along the wall. He had trouble telling if they were men or women, they all looked the same, bald, starved, and mostly naked. But the thing that caught his attention the most was that they all had a strange bloodless hole between their breasts.

Did the people here kill others for enjoyment?

He wondered why; why go through the trouble of hanging corpses like this instead of throwing their bodies away in some mass burial? Was whoever was running this place that determined to shame these poor people imprisoned here? He didn't know, he doubted if he even wanted to know.

They were nearly to the end of the passage, and another door lay in waiting for them. Unlike the one that was on the other end of the hallway, this one was a simple metal door with a black gem in the center of the door. There was no doorknob of any sort, so, Yuri concluded there must be some mechanism, like the door before, as so to open it.

He stared for a few moments at that little black orb, debating with himself. Finally he reached out and pressed the gem, it sunk into the door easily at his touch. The door opened slowly with a periodic clinking noise interrupted by a few screeches of metal on metal.

Yet another wide corridor with a low ceiling; but unlike the ones before it, it was made entirely of concrete and had iron cages lining the wall. The room was dank, dark, and damp, smelling of mold and filth. The walkway in the center was only about five feet wide and covered in dirt.

Inside the cages he could see skeletons of people. They were all bald and nearly naked except for small rags that guarded their privates. But the thing that caught his attention was the blood red gems embedded between their breasts. The people themselves were cowering, skin stretched over their bones and their eyes wide and full of fear.

They were frightened of him, the swordsman thought pityingly.

He would have to free them somehow, but their cages did not seem to have any doors or locks, nothing that he could somehow open. The bars themselves were a thick iron that was embedded in both the floor and ceiling. It would be impossible to wrench it free. The only option left would be to slice it open with his sword, if Flamberge could do that without the aid of a Blastia.

"Hey you, who are you?" A masculine voice from just down the corridor yelled, surprising the swordsman somewhat. He glanced over his shoulder to see five men standing their threateningly, holding an array of weapons. They wore grey and brown armor, and on their right deltoids, the symbol of Savage Wolf. "You are not of savage wolf are you?"

"Nope."

There was a pause in which the men just looked at him, befuddled as Yuri stood there with a smirk planted firmly in place. Repede stood next to Yuri, tense and ready for the attack. The men just stared at the duo for a moment, as if not believing that Yuri had just admitted, cheerfully, that he was not one of them. Suddenly, they all tensed up, raising both their weapons and their voices.

"Get him!" The Savage Wolf guild members yelled, charging forward, their weapons drawn. Yuri smiled, holding his position and waited until he could have reached out and touched them. At that moment, he swung Flamberge up and grabbed it by its handle, then stabbed the ground, shattering the concrete.

"Guardian Field!" Yuri shouted, a blue circle forming around him, energy waves emanating from it, stealing his opponents life force. The savage wolf men stumbled backwards, surprised. It did not take them long to regain their footing and their bravery, and they charged yet again.

Yuri ducked the first attack, and then dodged the second. These men were trained, but they still weren't any match for him. Already, he was planning on how to end this fight before these men could alert the entire compound of his presence. The swordsman managed to dodge yet another attack and readied Flamberge.

"Crushing eagle!" This time, yellow waves of energy injured his opponent as Yuri drew back his weapon. Four of then had staggered and fell from the attack, the one that had not charged and stabbed at the swordsman. Yuri swiped the attack away, before extending his arm with Flamberge in hand and spinning it. "Shining Fang!"

One down, four to go.

A second man charged, followed closely by another. The swordsman calmly, slowly faced them as they approached him. They attacked him, both of the men slicing at him at the same time. Yuri ducked and propelled himself forward, until he was nearly in their faces. Their expressions of shock did not last long.

The swordsman saw the perfect opening; both of the men were wide open and shocked at his sudden intrusion. Yuri stabbed Flamberge into the first male's gut, then yanked it back out before stepping forward speedily and thrusting his fist into the man's chin. "Wolf Strike!"

Two down, three to go.

The man to his right did not have time to defend himself either. He had watched the slaughter of his comrade with a look of disbelief and horror. He stepped back slightly, as if thinking to flee. However, before he could carry out any preconceived notions of fleeing, the swordsman attacked.

Yuri moved effortlessly, slashing downwards and putting his body into it. Bending his knee as he curled his body into himself, Yuri slashed down and diagonally. He sprung up again almost immediately, crashing his fist into his opponent's neck in a smooth, powerful uppercut. "Fang Strike!"

Three down, two to go.

The remaining two men looked at the bodies of their companions surrounding the swordsmen as the realization that they were no match for his man began to set in. They stood there, trembling and unsure. One of the men, grinding his teeth in anger, bravely rushed the lone swordsman.

The swordsman blocked the first assault; his opponent was so close that Yuri could smell the alcohol on his breath. The swordsman threw his attacker back in a display of strength, before back stepping out of the way. The Savage wolf lurched for a moment looked at Yuri and screamed as he went in to attack again.

Yuri was already ready, he spun Flamberge in hand and sliced upwards, quickly switching the sword to his other hand and slashing again, forming a wall of ice. Then, he thrust his palm into the wall of ice, sending a freezing shockwave to his opponent. "Frigid blast!"

Four down, one to go.

Wait, where was the last guy? Yuri looked, confused. He was sure there had been five men that had attacked him. He glanced down the corridor to see the last man darting towards the exit. If he allowed that man to get away, then everyone would know that he was there.

"Repede, after him!" Yuri bellowed, swinging Flamberge onto his shoulder. He ran down the passage after the man that had escaped. He could not allow that man to lie, Yuri had no desire to have every Savage Wolf Member after his head. Repede barked, and then streaked down the hallway in a blue blur and after the lone Savage Wolf.

However, the Savage wolf wasn't trying to escape. He stood for a moment, panting and catching his breath. He was next to the exit and a small control panel that had a giant red button that Yuri figured probably shouldn't be pushed. The Savage Wolf smirked victoriously, and leaned over and pushed the button.

A wail of sirens met his ears, a loud screeching noise that repeated itself every ten seconds. Feeling slightly jaded, Yuri vaguely realized that everyone in this bloody compound now knew of his existence and that, despite his earlier wishes, he would probably have everyone in Savage Wolf chasing him down now.

Lovely.

The man turned away from the door and the button he had pushed to gloat his victory. Instead, he was met by a dog leaping at his throat. Repede sunk his canines into the man's throat as the Savage Wolf stumbled and fell backwards. The man tried to beg for mercy, but Repede twisted his head, breaking the man's neck with a sickening crack.

The alarm continued to go off and Yuri knew this place would be crawling with guards in mere minutes. Glancing around for Ryker, Yuri made a mental promise to somehow free the prisoners. The boy wasn't there, so Yuri took off and out through the door way, hoping that somehow Ryker was okay.

* * *

><p>"Lupe? What is it?" A feminine voice echoed across the large, cavernous white room. Her silhouette was cast upon the stark white walls as she moved gracefully across the floor, her heels clacking against the pure white marble floor. She sounded inquisitive, a rarity for her as she approached the man poised at the other end of the room.<p>

"Nothing Blaise," The man laughed, pushing his silver hair out of his eyes as he tore himself away from the projector. He looked at the woman with the long black hair and the green eyes so similar to his as he motioned to the projector behind him. "I found the intruder. The omega's will be thrilled to hear who it is."

"You've already identified him?" Blaise muttered in surprise, looking up towards the screens behind Lupe. She could see her room, the couch and the glass of red wine, she could see the prison corridors. Corridor six caught her attention quickly due to the fact of the five dead Savage Wolf Members across the screen. She snarled as a protective anger rose in her, and turning to Lupe she hissed, "Who did this?"

"Yuri Lowell, of Brave Vesperia I believe." Lupe smiled nonchalantly, messing with his short silver tresses as the woman behind him glowered at him slightly, enraged as of why he wasn't more upset by the news. Some of their own had been killed and here he was playing with his hair. "So, is everything ready?"

"Everything has been done." Blaise's glower turned quickly into a wide evil smile, her eyes narrowing in delight. She flipped her hair over her shoulder. She sauntered up to him seductively, looking at him under her eyelashes as she lightly caressed his shoulders with her thin hands. "We are ready at any time, Alpha."

"Mmm, that's good, Alpha." Lupe smirked back, grabbing her hands that massaged his shoulder and holding them in place. Their eyes met for a moment, before together they looked back at the projector. The male alpha shook his head in pity, "Suingam is up to it again. He's a fool. He keeps doing the same thing over again and he keeps expecting a different result."

"He doesn't have to be a genius." Blaise hummed, pulling away from Lupe gently and strolling leisurely closer to the projector, watching a screen that showed her the intruder. Enraged, she punched at the projection, her fist hitting the wall futilely, the picture unaffected. Blaise tore her eyes away from the hologram and up to one of Suingam, who was yelling at the little blond cowardly assistant. She sighed and turned away. "Just as long as he keeps paying us."

"True enough." Lupe murmured, glancing at the time portrayed at the bottom of the screen. It was a picture of a sun, half dark and half white with the black gradually taking over the white at a sluggish pace. The male alpha cast his eyes over towards the female, speaking slowly, "It is noon. We'll have to hurry, I doubt that they will wait for us too long."

"What about the rest of the pack?" The female alpha asked quietly, her eyes once again focused on the hologram of their slaughtered guild mates. Lupe sighed and approached her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder as so to calm her. She did not even acknowledge him, but continued coldly, "Are we just going to leave them to be slaughtered by that monster?"

"I told the Beta's already." Lupe said indifferently, waving his hand over his shoulder as he walked away from her. Blaise glanced back at him, slightly curious as the alpha promenaded over to the doorway, his voice of so blasé. "Besides, this man is not after us, but that boy Asalle brought here."

"Oh, is that it?" Blaise exhaled, before looking back on to the screen, a cruel leer firmly in place. "Well, this is getting interesting."

* * *

><p>An: Whoopee! Things are starting to get interesting (for me at least, cause I know all whats going on )

**"This time, I'm gonna slaughter your ass!**

**"Useless vermin! I'll kill all of you!"**

**"What happened here?"**

The Separation: Suingam III : Dying Embers


	10. The Separation: Suingam III:Dying Embers

A/N: ...t-terribly sorry. I don't have a computer right now, so I have had to make do. Anyway, after much time, here is the next installment... ^^'

* * *

><p>The door before him opened silently, swinging open and sucking in yet more musty stale air. Yuri and Repede cared but a little, anxious to get out of the area that stunk of rotting corpses. The two of them darted through the doorway and into the next area, a t-section.<p>

Yuri glanced down the hallway to both his left and his right, where he could see doors much as the one he had just came through lining the wall. He did not look closely at anything, until his eye caught a flash of a shadow. On the wall, opposite of him, was a single black door with three colored key slots.

While Yuri was observing the room they had unwittingly wandered into, Repede was far more concerned with what was in the room. The dog snarled, and quickly widened his stance while the fur on his back stood straight up and the dog went rigid with aggression.

Yuri blinked as he looked up into a crowd of men, some of savage wolf as by their strange armor and others dressed in odd white trench coats with shaved bald shiny heads. They were all looking at him in bemusement, a few of them reaching for their weapons slowly, as if thinking the swordsman would not notice them.

Where had they all come from?

Ten minutes later, Yuri staggered over to the wall; only a little beat up, and reached into his travel pack with a bloodstained hand. He brushed against a gooey gel and immediately snatched it up, popping it into his mouth unhesitatingly. He gagged a little at the overwhelming sweetness and the slight apple flavor.

Repede's shrill whine hurt his ears, making his head pound. He glanced over his shoulder at the dog as Repede whine again. The blue-gray dog was near one of the men in white's body, pawing at the white coat and whining. Yuri sighed; pushing himself off the wall as the gel's healing effects began to kick in.

Yuri approached the body while Repede trotted out of the way, his tail high as Yuri rummaged through the dead man's coat. The swordsman noticed a flash of red in the dead man's breast pocket; he dismissed it as blood at first before realizing that he had stabbed this man through the stomach. Frowning slightly, he reached at the pocket and pulled the red card out from the coat.

Yuri stared at the card in confusion, noticing Repede trotting over to the black steel door out of the corner of his eye. Turning around completely, Yuri watched as Repede stood on his back legs and scratched at the black door with his front paws. Yuri frowned, perplexed. His eyes observed the door closely, noticing the card slots yet again. The slots were green, blue, and red.

"Okay, Repede, where are the other cards?" Yuri asked, standing up as he suddenly understood. Repede barked, and after a few moments of nosing around, Yuri had found the blue card hidden in another man's coat. "Good job, now, where is the last card?" Repede whined and trotted around Yuri's knees. Yuri grimaced, somewhat confused, he doubted that the door would open with what they had. "That's it?"

There was some one else here.

Yuri was on his feet in seconds, glaring down the empty hallway as a sudden rush of adrenaline surged through his body, his hand on Flamberge's handle. He could see a figure disappear around the bend out of the corner of his eye as the sound of footsteps fading sent Repede after the silhouette, barking at the top of his lungs. Yuri watched the dog stop just short of the corner and hesitate for a moment.

Repede sniffed the floor, before picking something up. The swordsman watched in confusion as the dog trotted back to him, a yellow card protruding from his mouth. Yuri looked at it in confusion as Repede set the card on the ground in front of him. Then, he glanced over to the colored slots on the door. Red, blue, green, and he had a red card, a blue card and…a yellow card?

It did not make sense, but the enemy already knew he was here, so what did he have to loose? Yuri walked up the door and slid the red card in the red slot. The slot light up with a crimson flare, then the card was sucked into the door completely, surprising the swordsman. The door beeped a few times before lighting up the blue slot.

He did the same thing with the blue card, and the process repeated itself. Now, only the green slot remained. Yuri hesitated, looking down at the yellow card, flicking his eyes over to the green slot. Against his better judgment, he slowly slid the yellow card into the green slot.

The yellow card radiated with a lime glow. Then, the now green card was suddenly drawn into the door with yet another sequence of beeps. Yuri backed away quickly, alert for any sound of alarm or trap of any sort as the door, with several creaks and groans, shifted abruptly, unleashing a hail of dust, and swung open.

Eh? It worked? Slightly confused, Yuri cautiously moved through the black iron doorway, Repede at his heels. He could feel the pounding in his ears and the thumping of his own heart as his figure bathed in a light blue glow from the next area. Repede trotted on ahead of him, unafraid.

Even so, it would not hurt to be wary. Yuri slowly ambled into the large, cavernous area that seemed to stretch for miles with concrete floors, white cinder block walls, and ceiling that seemed to fade into shadow. The entire area glowed an eerie blue that radiated from the center of the room.

Strange creatures that looked neither monster nor human, but somewhere in between, suspended in giant glass tubes reminiscent of the ones in Tarqaron filled the room. There must have been hundreds of these tubes and creatures in this room. Yet, for some reason he did not react in horror.

He was turning rather jaded.

He moved silently through the maze of giant glass tubes, glancing at the creatures faces twisted in pain and horror. Had these once been human? He did not know. Upon closer inspection, he could see at what could only be the creatures' chests, there was an oddly familiar, small, strange hole.

Yuri soon realized that every one of the creatures had those strange holes in their torsos. After a few minutes, he remembered exactly where he had seen the bizarre gaps in the upper body. It only had been a little bit ago, heading towards and away from the prison area with the hundreds of bodies hung along the walls, all of them naked, bald, with the hole in their chest.

He was starting to wonder about the hole in the chest. Was there something that he was missing? Yuri stopped at one of the glass tubes and leaned forward, taking a close look at the body. The skin was an odd blue, preserved in a bizarre translucent yellow liquid, with red veins protruding from the wrinkled skin.

There was a date scribbled on the bottom of the glass case with the initials RPT under it. Only then did Yuri comprehend that something was wrong. Either that the date was incorrect, or that this body was ten years old. It was not long after that he realized that several of the bodies were a year to ten years old and that some were even older.

In addition, who, or what, was RPT?

He would not figure anything out just by sitting there. Yuri sighed, noticing he had lost track of Repede. The swordsman swayed on his feet, his mind on the complex matter of understanding exactly what he had got himself into. He had seen one grotesque thing after another. The boy, Ryker, might not even be alive anymore.

Yuri moved through the labyrinth of glass tubes, before finally walking out an opening, a break in the creepy area. Finally, there was a wall, but the first thing that Yuri noticed was the boy chained to the wall. It was Ryker, beat up and bloodied beyond belief, but alive.

Rage boiled in the pit of his stomach at the boy's pitiful state, and Yuri found himself rigid and eying the two men who stood watch over the small boy. Yuri recognized them in an instant, and swung Flamberge into the air and snatched it with his right hand, battle ready.

Yuri could see Ryker look up in amazement, his eyes wide and busted lip trembling. The swordsman saw Asalle and the other man turn around to face him, two entirely different expressions on their faces. The man with the short silver hair and the rapier looked annoyed, while Asalle seemed overjoyed.

"Well lookie who is here…" Asalle smirked, moving between Yuri and Ryker. He threw some of his shaggy hair over his shoulder and drew his sabre violently as his silent, angry companion watched, "The monster came to save another monster, how laughable."

"Why are you not dead?" The silver haired man asked, ignoring his vicious comrades threatening pose. Instead focusing instead on the battle ready Yuri, his eyes sweeping over Yuri's chest, the place where he had stabbed the swordsman. "Those wounds you sustained should have killed you."

"As if." Yuri snapped back confidently, completely alert for any chance of attack. If he allowed himself to be distracted by either Asalle or the other man, he could be a dead man. He already had a pretty good idea on the white haired male's attack type from previous experience, and the white wolf's choice of weapon.

The swordsman figured that the white haired man and Asalle worked as a team from the Ω in the center of their respective circular tattoos. Therefore, while Asalle was fighting the opponent from the front, the other would attack from the back with a fatal stab through the lungs.

"Well then I suppose I will have to rectify that will I not?" The savage wolf said calmly, drawing his rapier. The silver haired man stepped over, narrowing his eyes dangerously as Asalle glared at his partner in fury and astonishment, waving his sabre wildly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Yuri waved them off as Flamberge sat on his shoulder. He could feel the residual burn in his chest at the place where that woman had touched him intensify as his body began to throb at the possibility of a brawl, "But if you want to fight, I can't exactly say no."

"Ilse back off!" Asalle snarled, his loud and definitive voice snapping Yuri out of his weird daze shortly as the gray wolf commanded his companion. So, Ilse was the white haired man's name? Yuri did not have much time to dwell on that as Asalle turned to him, now yelling violently, "Yuri Lowell, This time, I'm gonna slaughter your ass!"

"One of you, two of you, it doesn't matter," Yuri smirked, ready to attack. However, he knew he should not attack just yet, not until they attacked him or this outlandish desire in him faded away a bit, a longing for a fight, and an urge to see some blood. "Come at me all at once if you want."

"Why you!" Asalle snarled, moving towards the swordsman astonishingly quickly. Yuri's body moved without thought, swinging Flamberge down vertically to block Asalle's horizontal slice and knock the savage wolf off balance. Ilse growled from the door, enraged that his partner had attacked so recklessly as he readied himself to attack.

"Asalle, Ilse!" Another voice, this one Yuri did not recognize. The swordsman back flipped away from his assailant, noticing Ilse a little bit behind him and to the right. It seemed his earlier theory on the two Savage Wolf's attack style was correct. The male voice from the doorway continued forcefully, "Stop it, now!"

"Balere, what is it?" Ilse growled, glaring angrily at the male standing in the doorway. Yuri's eyes narrowed, this would not be good if yet another savage wolf joined the fight. Like Ilse and Asalle, this third Savage Wolf had some strength to him, unlike the canon fodder that the swordsman had faced just a little bit before. "We don't have time for this! We need to deal with the intruder!"

"It does not matter..." The man called Balere hissed, throwing the swordsman a scathing glance of thinly veiled disdain, his eyes meeting Yuri's for a few seconds that seemed to last a lifetime before once again casting his eyes towards his companions and speaking to them sternly. "Alpha has called for you."

"But, Balere, you do know…" Ilse protested, swinging his rapier to and fro in agitation as Asalle, incensed, turned his attention back to Yuri. The swordsman tried to keep his eyes on all three of the men, loosing sight of any one of them could mean instant death. "That Suingam told us to watch the boy."

Yuri felt a stone drop into his stomach

What the heck had he got himself into? Suingam… one of the men who was planning on destroying the empire and the guilds had ordered this boy to be watched? This child? Just how deep was Suingam's involvement in this mess? Did he know about all those people that were being tortured and killed in this place?

"Forget that." The dark haired savage wolf huffed, adjusting the giant mace strapped to his back threateningly. Asalle and Ilse paused slightly, flinching a little when the other Savage Wolf glared up at them from under his bangs and said very commandingly, "Alpha commanded us to come, and to come now."

"But!" Asalle and Ilse protested weakly, both of them spinning to look eye to eye with their fellow guild member. Neither of them seemed eager to fight though, somehow unable to stand up against this dark haired, dark eyed male that seemed younger, shorter, and physically weaker than either of them.

Yuri could not understand it, was Balere more powerful than the other two somehow? Perhaps a higher rank in this strange hierarchy that Savage Wolf seemed to posses. Who exactly was "Alpha"? Was he the leader of Savage Wolf and the true instigator of the horrible deeds that had been committed in this strange place?

Or perhaps, Suingam was the one pulling the strings behind Savage Wolf. Maybe, Suingam had hired Savage Wolf to protect this place while he went of willy-nilly to plot the downfall of the Empire, the Guilds, Flynn, and Brave Vesperia. It would make sense, Savage Wolf was a mercenary guild after all, and Suingam would pay plenty for them to keep their mouths shut.

Either way, whoever was behind this brutality would have to pay somehow.

"Asalle, Ilse, now!" Balere's word was final, and finally, defeated, the two Omega's bowed their heads in defeat before the man in the incredibly odd and hilarious yellow and purple armor. The swordsman stood off to the side, confused. Were they going to just abandon Ryker and forget about fighting him?

The strange yearning in him roared in maddened agony, desiring a insane brawl of some sort. Honestly, the swordsman was agreeing with the strange feeling, seeming to originating from the warm area on his chest. From the area where that woman had attacked him- what was her name again?

Oh yeah. He did not know her name. That was going to make tracking her down a tad bit difficult.

"You got lucky, boy." Asalle's seething glower promised death for the next time they would meet. Yuri wanted to fight him, but he knew he had a duty to save Ryker first. The boy had never asked to be saved, but Yuri did not care. Ryker did not want to be taken with Asalle and that was the only reason he needed.

Balere watched Yuri as Asalle and Ilse darted towards him. The swordsman felt a little unsettled, like the shorter male was sizing him up for something. And as Asalle and Ilse disappeared behind the short man, Yuri saw a flash of silver fly through the air, and then a series of clinking against the concrete floor.

Yuri glanced down to see keys at his feet, and by the time he had glanced up again, Balere and the rest of Savage Wolf was gone. Yuri frowned, something wasn't clicking correctly. The keys at his feet only proved that something wasn't quite right, it just did not fit.

Why would a elusive mercenary organization go out of their way to kidnap a child, not once, but twice, and bring him to secluded building in the middle of a forest. And then, they torture the child, just to let him go when the opportunity arose? Maybe Suingam had ordered them to capture the boy, but now they had a falling out with him or something? Or perhaps they had no further use for the boy. Either way, the boy was alive.

Yuri sheathed Flamberge warily, knowing full well that Savage Wolf could return at any moment. He kicked the keys off the floor and into the air, catching them with his free hand as he walked over to where the beat up child sat, chained up against the wall helplessly and looking up at the man before him as if he were a ghost.

"You're still alive…" The boy trembled, his silver eyes wide as his body shook. There was a bloody bump on his head and his face was tear stained and dirt streaked, an odd puncture wound just beneath his collarbone. Other than that, he seemed physically well, "You're not dead…"

"Yeah, I'm still kicking." Yuri smiled gently as he sunk slowly to his knees, still feeling the burn of his wounds as he had not allowed them to fully heal just yet. Instead, he found himself eyeing the old rusty locks on the shabby boy's thick metal chains and the keys in his hands, trying to find a match. "So, what happened here?"

"You're not dead…you're not dead…" Ryker's voice quivered as he repeated those lines continuously, his silver eyes wide in fearful astonishment as he gazed inanely over Yuri's shoulder, not answering the swordsman's question. He might have been okay physically, but something else might be wrong mentally.

"Yeah, we sort of established that already." Yuri said, glancing over at the boy with his eyebrows raised slightly. He had not expected a reaction like this, the boy had only met him a day or two ago. It might have been two, at this point, Yuri did not remember. While he was thinking on the situation, he could hear the lock move and fall away, freeing the boy. "Well, there we go…"

The chains had not even hit the ground before Ryker was plastered to Yuri, crying his eyes out. The swordsman sat, confused, not exactly understanding what was going on here. Even back at the village, with all those people hanging like ornaments on a morbid Christmas tree, cut up like sashimi, the boy had not cried like this.

Of course, though, Yuri had no idea what the boy might have been through. Sighing, Yuri gingerly picked the boy up with one arm, knowing that the child was not going to let go of him anytime soon. But, they needed to get out of there. Suingam and Savage Wolf could receive their punishments later.

The swordsman snapped his head up suddenly, hearing rusting from the area behind him, from the creepy labyrinth of strange glass casings. He glanced over his shoulder, dark eyes focused, and free hand slowly reaching towards Flamberge. Repede emerged from the creepy aqua shadows, trotting up to the swordsman.

"Where were you, boy?" Yuri sighed as relief rolled off him in waves, relaxing his stance as Repede questioningly nuzzled the now quietly sniffling boy that clung to Yuri's shoulder. The swordsman seemed to understand the question, "Yeah, he's alive. We are going to go ahead and get out of here for now."

The dog snorted, backing away for a moment and surveying the area. Noticing an exit, Repede raised his muzzle and sniffed the air questioningly. The dog's fur stood on end as the blue grey animal immediate widened his stance and uttered a low, dangerous rumble from the chest cavity. The swordsman, slightly shocked by his companions action, glanced towards the exit.

The large mahogany door swung open slowly and fluidly, unlike the other, metallic doors in the compound. Another dim light poured into the room and the swordsman caught a glimpse of a dull, yellow wall. A man, just a bit taller than Yuri and built like an ox ambled through the doorway, with unruly flame red hair spilling over his shoulders and contrasting with his open chest purple vest. And strapped onto his back was a large, ornate pickaxe.

"So those useless wolves ran away with their tails between their legs, huh?" From the way he spoke, Yuri recognized him as the gravelly voice from the Elite's little rendezvous in Bluebell Meadow. Then, this must be Suingam of the elite. The large man turned to him, a wild grin on his face.

Ryker wasn't feeling it, instead, the boy was clinging to Yuri for dear life, looking at Suingam with terrified eyes. The swordsman firmly reminded himself that the boy was first for now. But how was he to get to the door with Suingam blocking it? The swordsman glanced back to the maze of glass tubes. Perhaps it might be quicker to go through that way…

Ryker shouted in alarm, and Yuri glanced over towards Suingam to see the council member jumping towards him, the pickaxe being swung in a wide arc that would end bloodily if the swordsman didn't do something about it. Yuri prepared to draw Flamberge, but quickly recalled that he was holding Ryker and opted instead to duck and roll out of the way.

Yuri's knees collapsed, he could hear the child's cry of shock as they hit the ground. Yuri cradled the child into his frame as he rolled against the harsh concrete floor before springing up against the wall. The first thing he did was check the boy, who seemed to be fine, and then, he glared out over at Suingam.

"And where do you think you're going, vermin?" Suingam laughed, wrenching his pickaxe out of the concrete where Yuri and Ryker had been just moments before as Repede guardedly cantered over to the swordsman, his head low and ears back belligerently. "I can't exactly let you go and amble on outta here with my little experiment…"

He had a point.

Yuri sighed, it seemed he was going to fight the burly man whether he really wanted to or not. First though, he would have to set Ryker down. Bending his knees and falling to them smoothly, Yuri set the still terrified boy to the ground gingerly, while still keeping his eyes on Suingam.

"…have I met you somewhere before, boy?" Suingam asked with a frown, having observed the dark haired male as he had dealt with Ryker. The red headed man reached over his shoulder, grasping the head of the pickaxe and lifting the weapon over his shoulder with ease, indifferently displaying his impressive might.

"I don't know. Have you?" Yuri replied sharply, throwing Flamberge into the air and catching it ostentatiously, while speaking in a hushed tone to the boy cowering behind him, "hide over there," he jerked his head towards the area with the thousands of glass tubes, before whispering to Repede, "Keep an eye on the boy, will ya?"

Ryker nodded obediently and Repede seemed to understand.

"Don't be smart with me or I'll make your death painful." Suingam smirked, drawing out a breath as he swung his pickaxe effortlessly from on hand to another. Yuri sighed, that weapon must have at least weighed forty or so pounds, yet Suingam tossed it around like a toy.

"Is there a way to painlessly kill someone with a pickaxe?" The swordsman inquired with traces of a smirk on his face he jutted one of his feet forward, getting into his battle ready position as he impatiently tapped Flamberge on his shoulder. The longer he fought Suingam the worse off he would be, Yuri knew that this opponent could be fatal if given the chance.

He could not afford to give Suingam that chance.

"Lets find out." Suingam chuckled lowly, throwing his left leg forward and propelling himself with his right, giving him an advantageous boost in speed. The member of the Elite swung the pickaxe out in an extremely wide arc as he approached the dark haired swordsman.

Initially, Yuri had decided to try to block the attack. However, at the last moment and by an abrupt impulse in his gut, the swordsman relaxed his legs and fell just in time to avoid getting the better half of him bashed in. He could feel the breeze from the attack gently caress him as he bounced back up just in time for Suingam's second attack.

The council member swung his pickaxe upwards diagonally; reverse of what he had done just moments ago. The swordsman moved swiftly yet again, leaning out of the way from the deadly attack before moving forward and out of Suingam's range. Well, that is what he had originally thought at least.

Suingam moved backwards rapidly, sticking Yuri right in the middle of his range yet again. The swordsman, this time, decided that perhaps it might be better to observe at a manageable distance and twisted his body backwards, flipping out of the council member's next attack.

He needed to find a way around that damn pickaxe. Standing back and starting to breathe a little harder, Yuri tried to think of a way to attack without getting himself smashed to putty, chopped to sashimi, or stabbed into Swiss cheese. But it was no good, he would have to attack normally again.

This time, he moved first, but had already decided to evade and counter attack only. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Suingam lifting the pickaxe up over his shoulder, preparing for yet another strike. Suingam, in that moment and the moment after the attack, was wide open.

The swordsman turned on his heel and spun his body to face Suingam, throwing out his arm and Flamberge in a sudden assault that could only shock his opponent. However, Yuri was the one gasping in astonishment. Suingam held Flamberge inches from his neck with nothing but a small knife that he had probably hidden in one of his many pockets.

The council member met Yuri's eyes and smirked, one handedly swinging his pickaxe towards the swordsman. Yuri bent his knees and folded his body in to avoid the assault, astounded when he could feel his hair flicker in the energy wave created from the weapon slicing through the air.

Yuri back stepped speedily, his hair getting in his face as he moved in reverse. He could feel the residual burn on his collarbone intensify, thrilled at this fight that was occurring. If he allowed himself to loose it, this fight might be in the bag, but he had no idea what kind of strain would repeat episodes like that put on his body…

Either way, this was going to be difficult.

The swordsman ran forward again, this time with a plan, and a way around Suingam's knife. He ducked the council member's first attack as adrenaline pumped through his body, knocking away Suingam's knife, exposing the man's shoulder. Yuri did not hesitate, sinking his weapon into the burly man's meaty shoulder

Suingam grunted in pain, and retaliated by slicing horizontally through the air, slicing a nice thin line right across Yuri's chest. The swordsman gasped in pain, yanking the bloodied Flamberge out of his opponent as he retreated, the exposed area of his chest already dyed a fine crimson hue.

Yuri immediately placed his hand across his chest, tracing his wound. It was not deep or fatal, just painful, like shaving gone bad. He noticed Suingam out of the corner of his eye, reaching into one of his many pockets, probably to get a gel of some sort and recover some lost energy. Although he wanted to fight, he knew that he needed to end this fight. The sooner he ended it, the better.

The injury throbbed painfully, but he ignored it, instead darting forward, Flamberge at the ready in his tightly clenched fist as his feet pounded against concrete in tune with the heartbeat that pounded in his ears. He saw Suingam jump backwards and out of the way of the swordsman's impressive strike.

Suingam had given ground, not much, but he had retreated. Yuri, taken aback, stopped briefly. Suingam had pretty much remained in the same location the entire fight up until now. Maybe that nice little bloody wound in Suingam's brawny shoulder that Yuri had so graciously gifted him was slowing him down a little.

Big whoop. Yuri's lesion was slowing him down too. If he took a moment to eat an apple gel, Suingam would do the same and the battle would only be further drawn out. if anything, Yuri did not want this battle to last much longer. The warmth in his chest was spreading up his neck. Their weapons crossed, and Yuri quickly realized that he was outclassed in terms of strength.

"One thing old man…" Yuri grunted, grinding his teeth together as his muscles strained to fight off the larger man's assault. The swordsman tried to push back, but swiftly realized that it was futile and instead finished his original question, "…are you the one in charge of the compound?"

9"You haven't figured it out yet, boy?" The council member taunted as the swordsman slid back from the force of Suingam pushing against Flamberge. For a moment, Yuri stumbled, and Suingam seized the opportunity to shove the man against the wall, trapping him. "Of course I'm the one in charge here!"

Something inside Yuri snapped.

A feeling of icy-cold awareness washed over him, numbing his senses as the world seemed to slow down around him. Suingam looked to be moving through water, his movements slow and fluid, but Yuri could feel the icy sensation traveling through his veins, far overpowering the warmth that had been building up throughout the majority of his fights.

"Shining Fang Drop!" Yuri yelled, breaking his defense unexpectedly and startling Suingam, spinning his sword in his hand, injuring Suingam slightly across his cheek. Yuri then slashed down powerfully, Flamberge becoming no more than a mirage of a flame.

A sickening crunch, a spray of blood, and a soft thump followed by a loud clank as Suingam's right arm fell to the ground, still clutching the pickaxe. Suingam gasped as blood spurted from the place where his right arm used to be, dropping his knife to the floor and quickly cupping his new stumped arm.

"You bastard…" Suingam scowled breathing heavily and in pain as a scarlet stream leaked between his calloused and rough fingers, dripping from them with a morbid cadence as the council elite muttered aloud, and backing away from the swordsman."Useless vermin! I'll kill all of you! You, the boy, and that damn mutt!"

Yuri did not hear him; he could no longer hear him. His body was moving all on its own, towards Suingam with a leisurely pace, Flamberge swinging parallel to his thighs, drenched in Suingam's blood. This calm, eerie presence no longer seemed human, or to even remotely realize what exactly it was doing.

Suingam grimaced, releasing his wounded stump that still bled a steady flow and grabbed his knife from the floor. In a last ditch effort to protect himself, he prepared for an attack from the silent swordsman, raising the knife in defense and Yuri drew back his blood soaked flame shaped sword.

It was no longer a contest. Without his pickax and his right arm, Suingam was practically defenseless. The knife clattered to the ground as Suingam cradled his bleeding left hand, cursing under his breath.

His body was no longer listening to him, but then again, he was no longer commanding it. Yuri could not believe the power that was flowing unreservedly though his body, freeing him from worldly restrictions. His arm, his sword, both light as air, easy enough to raise over his head to prepare a death blow.

"You…I know…you resemble that…man!" The council member exclaimed, cradling his stump as he looked up into his murderers face. The swordsman's formerly excited and alive eyes had glazed over blankly without a trace of emotion, his bloodied sword poised high in the air.

That was the last thing Suingam ever saw.

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><p>AN: Any theories on what Dea's curse is? Any questions? ^-^

**Next Time...**

**Flynn arrives in Halure to see something shocking!**

**Estelle and Rita arrive at Suingam's compound to see something even more shocking!**

**And Ryker reveals to Yuri the most shocking thing of all!**

_...while they head to the ocean! _

**I guess I could say the next chapter is going to be shocking!**

...k, time for bed. Night.

**Next: **The Separation: To Capua Nor 


	11. The Separation: To Capua Nor

A/N: Yay! This one was done in a reasonable amount of time! . Thank you for all your kind reviews they really help me out.

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><p>An orange light covered the blossom city as the twilight fell on the gossiping citizens and the amazed militia as they observed the destruction at the front half of the city. The sky was quickly darkening, and the wind bore the chill of the oncoming night as it enveloped all that stood before it in its gentle caress.<p>

The commandant stood before the mayors residence, his eyes firmly trained on the ground before him as the knights behind him observed the more notable damage inflicted to this city, such as the destruction of Regulus and the bridge. Sodia, on his orders, had gone off to interrogate the villagers, as to find out what had happened here.

There was a nagging feeling in his gut that sharply contrasted with the sting of the semi-healed up puncture that his friend had so kindly given to him as a parting gift. There were a thousand possibilities running through his mind, yet, there were only a few that really made sense. Perhaps Sodia would find something useful to shed some light on the subject.

The commandant glanced over his shoulder; his knights were busying themselves in assisting the cleanup of both Regulus and the bridge that had been destroyed. Flynn smiled wistfully as he brushed some of his golden locks out of his eyes. If only the knights had been like that during his childhood…

He shook himself firmly; there was no point in dwelling in the 'ifs' of the past. If anything was to be done, you had to do it yourself. Change would not occur if you wished for it hard enough, in order to get anything done, one must take up the job. So much had changed already, fruits of the blonde's labor.

Already, he could see her approaching; he hoped she was the bearer of good news. She was looking straight at him, her expression stern and posture perfectly straight. Sodia was quite the model knight, completely focused, serious, and determined to see things out to the end. She had quite the number of admirers, although she knew little of them.

"So, what did you find out?" Flynn asked, meeting her eyes briefly. Then, he looked down as he continued to observe the ground, his sky blue eyes darting over the broken terrain, his mind constructing different scenarios on what had occurred here. Of course, he could not be certain until Sodia informed him on what the villagers had to say.

"Lady Estellise was here." Sodia began calmly. Flynn's head snapped up in surprise, before looking at his assistant. She did not react to his shock, carrying on dutifully. "Two days ago Lady Estellise arrived in this town with Rita Mordio and stayed approximately one night in Denebola. The next day, around noon, the criminal Yuri Lowell arrived here in town with an unknown child about ten. "

Flynn blinked, impressed with the quality of information that she had gathered. Not only that, he was relieved to hear of both Lady Estellise and Yuri. Turning fully to her as she continued with her report as some knights passed carrying wreckage out of the city, Flynn pushed all other thoughts from his mind and focused solely on his assistant's story.

"The criminal and Lady Estellise had brief contact before the criminal was pulled into a fight with another strange male about twenty eight, perhaps one hundred and eighty centimeters tall, darker skin, almond shaped gold eyes, long messy gray hair, wearing black and red armor that exposes both of his arms. This man is who destroyed the bridge and Denebola." Sodia stopped for a moment to take a breath as the last rays of the sun shimmered over them.

Flynn's mind was already on the man in red and black armor. Why had Yuri fought him? Was it because this man had destroyed the bridge and Denebola? Had the man threatened the villagers, or worse, Lady Estellise? Speaking of Lady Estellise, he wondered if perhaps in the short amount of time she and Yuri supposedly had if she found out why he was doing whatever the hell he was doing. Or better yet, what he was doing.

"The two fought for some time, and eventually yet another man, this time about twenty one, around one hundred and sixty centimeters tall, lighter skin, almond shaped gold eyes, short silver hair, wearing the same armor as the first male, appeared and attacked Lowell from behind, seeming injuring him quite nastily." Again, she stopped, whether it was for a breath or dramatic effect, Flynn had no idea.

He was not worried; Yuri could get care of himself. Instead, he focused his thoughts on the second man with the black and red armor. It could not be a coincidence, and the way that Sodia had phrased the information, it seemed that the second man had come as to rescue the first, or was at least working with the man with long shaggy hair.

"Lowell somehow survived. But the villagers said that he began to act strange. His fighting was destructive, as though he was trying to do anything he could to his opponent while not trying to even defend himself. Apparently, he attained several wounds in this time that would have killed any normal person. "Sodia sighed, looking away briefly as the sun dipped full below the horizon. In moments it would be pitch black.

The commandant looked away as the town lamplighter passed to light the first lamp along Halure's main road along with a few more knights with rubble. Flynn watched, detached, his mind on the next tidbit that his assistant had given him. That description of Yuri made him think of the Yuri that had attacked and wounded him just outside Zaphias's castle. He had a feeling that they were connected, but he did not have enough information to make any conclusions.

"While the first of the two strange males fought Lowell, the second went to kidnap the boy. Lady Estellise prepared to somehow attack him from the opposite side of the gorge. While what seems to be that dog of Lowell's attacked. After a short battle the dog was injured, before it could recover the man took the boy and fled the scene with the other man, heading northwest." The woman continued, raising her hand to brush aside some of her bangs.

From what he had gathered, it seemed that Lady Estellise had not participated in the fighting. That was good. Yuri, meanwhile, had obviously participated in quite the brawl and now Flynn was more curious than ever about whatever was wrong with him. Also, what had happened to Lady Estellise after that?

"Lowell followed after them and the boy, and a little bit later, Lady Estellise and her comrade chased after him by descending the steep hillside. That is all." She finished, exhaling in relief, looking up at the commandant in admiration as he took in everything she had told him. His mind was in overdrive, ad he could feel her eyes on him, waiting for orders, an analysis, something.

Flynn sighed, looking up to the starry sky as darkness doused the countryside. Halure remained alight by the oil lamps that had been lit at twilight, a beacon of hope to those traveling the plains. Golden light covered the two of them and a few passing soldiers with wreckage, as the blonde pieced together his thoughts, and tried to decide what to do, what orders to give, what to think of this.

It did not surprise the commandant all that much really. Sure, there were several pieces that just did not fit into this puzzle that he was gaining the pieces of. He figured he just had not found them yet, but he knew he needed to. The more he thought about it the more he was convinced that Yuri had really had got himself into some deep trouble. Scratch that, he had understood that from the beginning of this mess.

One, who was the boy and what was his connection to those men? If they had fled shortly after getting their hands on him, it was obvious that it was the boy they had been after since the beginning. For whatever reason, Yuri had got himself mixed up with them, probably for the child's sake. Yuri had always had a soft spot for children.

Two, who were those men that had attacked and fought Yuri, then kidnapped the boy. Why had they kidnapped the boy? What were they up to? At this point, they had nothing except for a very vague description of them and that they were strong enough to fight Yuri head to head for an extended period of time.

He had other questions, such as where the hell was the princess and that damn Yuri, what was miss Mordio doing here, were they all alright, what the hell was Yuri up to, ect. But, he knew he must focus on what they, the knights, must prioritize. It took the blond commandant very little time to come to a decision.

"I understand, thank you, Sodia." Flynn sighed, running one of his hands through his unruly short blond hair as he relaxed slightly, releasing some of the tension in his back and neck. She had gathered quite a bit of information, but he needed more accurate portrayals of the boy and the two men. "Get some sketch artists and have the villagers describe the boy and the men to the best of their abilities to them."

"Yes sir." Sodia replied loyally, bowing forward slightly formally, much to the commandant's chagrin. He rather disliked people treating him as if he was above them, even if he was the commandant. However, he already realized that it was useless to try to talk Sodia out of it, especially seeing as though she acted this way even when they were alone.

"Soon as they are done, we set up camp, rest and leave first thing in the morning." The commandant commanded as some of the knights passed them, carrying the final loads of debris from Regulus and the bridge. They gave their commandant looks of gratitude as they passed, but he did not notice, instead announcing, "Then, we're going after lady Estellise."

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><p>Rita frowned as she trailed her hand down the concrete wall before her, observing the texture and the appearance of such a mixture. Already, she had several samples of the composite materials and a few samples from the surrounding area. About twenty two samples in all, she thought as she slid the last one into her pack.<p>

She sighed as she straightened up and looked around; it was quite a pity that whatever this compound had been was now little more than a pile of ashes and rubble. Glancing to her right at the badly disfigured steel door, Rita moved over to the door and gently hovered the back of her right hand over it.

There was still a gentle heat radiating from it. The door was still warm, even though the fire had seemingly been set yesterday. Rita did not dare touch it, instead she moved over, and stepped over a half-destroyed stone-wall and into the remains of whatever this compound had once been.

Ashes, disturbed by the sudden movement, abruptly took over the air, turning all of Rita's surroundings black. The smell of burnt flesh radiated from the ashes, making Rita want to gag as she stumbled through the debris. She wiped her eyes as the ashes began to settle around her, clearing her sight.

There was melted glass in puddles across the floor, now hardened with strange and interesting swirl patterns in the glass. Rita sighed and looked away, irritated by the fact that nothing seemed to have survived the fire. Of course, she had not even explored one eighth of the compound, there could be mounds of evidence.

But she did not have the time.

Regretfully stepping out of the burnt building and back on the grass, Rita stopped suddenly, glancing over her shoulder quickly. She could have sworn that she had heard something. She was shocked by just how startled she was from that one little rustle. It was probably just a little mouse or something.

"Rita! There you are!"

Or rather, it was Estelle. Rita sighed in relief as she turned to face her friend. Estelle rounded the corner from Rita's right, having gone off to try to walk all the way around the compound. The two of them had been here for almost three hours now, and thus far, had not found anything.

It was frustrating to say the least.

"Estelle, did you find anything?" Rita asked as Estelle stopped before her, covered in ashes and dirt with a few twigs sticking out of her hair at random angles. When had Estelle got twigs stuck in her hair? Ah, never mind, there was no point asking, it was not important. "Also, did you make it completely around the facility?"

"Yes, but, there was not anything there," Estelle replied as she wiped some ash off her face. Rita frowned in displeasure, annoyed by the lack of clues. She looked away from Estelle and back to the strange building, almost not hearing her friends comment. "I think we should go back and talk to those people again…"

Rita glanced back to where Estelle was pointing, her eyes narrowed slightly as she swept her eyes over the skeletal people. They were more bone than flesh, their skin appearing as if it stretched tightly over their bones. The people were all almost completely naked except for a scrap cloth draped over their decrepit bodies.

They had not really spoken to the half-dead people, except for learning that they had been prisoners of said compound before them, and that the place had burned to the ground yesterday late in the evening. There had been little discussion beyond that, since for whatever reason over half of the prisoners would not, or could not speak.

They might as well try to find out more information, although there was no guarantee that any of the prisoners would speak up. They seemed scared, as if they had given up hope, as if life did not matter to them anymore. Rita could only feel a sense of pity towards these people, along with a hint of disdain.

"Why not." Rita said, her voice strained as she and Estelle moved over to the skeleton-like people draped over the terrain. Some of the prisoners stared at them, their eyes empty of any emotion as the two women passed them by. As the two of them approached the only talkative prisoners, Rita leaned closer to Estelle, whispering in her ear softly, "But you get to ask the questions."

Estelle glanced at her questioningly as they stopped in front of a man, but Rita waved it off, she could explain her reasoning later. The mage took a good look at the man that they were to speak to, the only one who would speak to them. He, like the others, was pasty white, his bones protruding forth from his skin, blue eyes sunken into his face with thinning blond hair. And, like every single prisoner there, he had a strange red gem at his breast.

"Uhm, hi, uh, excuse me…" Estelle asked gently, leaning down and forward, trying to catch the man's attention. He blinked lazily, before looking up at her slightly with his eyes, eyes that Rita noticed, still held some sort of hope. "Could I ask a few questions, if that's all right?"

"You just did." The man chuckled tiredly, pulling himself up with quite a bit of effort to better face her as Estelle straightened up. The man leaned forward slightly, patting the ground as an invitation for them to take a seat. The girls exchanged glances, before carefully sitting down opposite from the young blond prisoner. "But fire away."

"Can you tell us about this place here?" Estelle asked, referring to the remains of the compound behind them as Rita observed the man before them silently as he watched Estelle, detached. Some of the other prisoners were watching them with suspicious eyes as they ate just about anything green that they could get their hands on. "And why there are so many people here? What happened here?"

"That place was called Peis by those who ran it, but by us prisoners, the place was called the incinerator." The man began, his voice raspy as he hunched forward further, drawing Estelle in as Rita listened attentively. "It would be easier to just tell you my story, since everyone's who has come here, our stories are much the same..."

"Please, tell us." Estelle begged her legs folded beneath her and to the side, her hands on her lap. The cool morning breeze blew some of the ashes from the burnt remains of the building behind them into the air, creating a gray haze that smelled of burnt flesh. Rita narrowed her eyes, taking note of the stench.

"I was brought here over twenty seven years ago…I was about eight at the time. My friends and I were playing outside the town when they showed up." The skeleton-like man began, his eyes downcast as he recalled the past, holding his thin right hand in his left. "My friends and I were taken there…" He spat venomously, referring to the ashes.

Rita noted he did not specify on whom 'they' were, instead moving on to the first days that he and his friends had in the horrid place that was Peis. That had been Peis, at least, the mage thought as she glanced back at the debris. Before someone had burned the entire place down, that is, and she had a feeling she might know whom…

"We were all stuck in a windowless cage, and all kinds of things were done to us. Torture, starvation, experimentation, just to name a few… that's were we all got this," He spat, pointing to the red mark at his neck, "We tried to escape several times, but soon as we left the prison, there was a hall of bodies of those who had already died. Even if we got past that, the compound itself was a maze, and we were always foiled."

Estelle, already captured by his story, was listening attentively, probably making mental notes and plotting out a whole storyline. It would be just like her, Rita thought with a soft smile as she too, paid attention to the story. However, instead of dramatic twists and turns, she was listening for clues and details.

"As the years passed by, one by one, my friends died off, from starvation, experiments gone wrong, torture gone too far, sickness, other inmates murdering them so they could have their dinner shares… but, more people kept arriving. They never brought adults, only children twelve or younger, it was strange to see anyone my age still around." At this point, the man had to take a break, a breath.

Rita was already noting the mentioned experimentations, the only bringing children to the compound. Rita took note, of the alleged torture and experimentation, the maze-like structure of the building, the killing of all the adults, but most importantly, that red gem at his neck. Estelle was staring at it intently, and Rita knew that they might have hit gold.

"A few days ago, maybe two or three, they brought in a boy. Like the rest of us, he was taken to the blue room. After that, the ones running that place had a spat and were on sore terms…until yesterday, when the next one came." This time the man went completely silent, twisting his hands in his lap.

Estelle's eyes were downcast now, and Rita wondered if the boy mentioned in the man's tale was the same boy that Estelle had told her about. The same boy that Yuri had went to save after Savage Wolf's attack. But, if that was the case, that would mean that Savage Wolf was connected to this compound, and could spell trouble for the guilds in Danhgrest.

"The last one was one like us; we could tell when we saw him…" The man continued, a small smile blossoming across his face as he stared up into the sky. "That man who ended up saving us, and who destroyed that horrid place." As he spoke, Rita noticed that the other prisoners were lightening up, some also smiling with him.

"Who was it?" Between her and Estelle, Rita was not sure who was asking the question. She too, was terribly curious, as she was sure that she knew who it was. Yet, something still did not fit. Something was still not right…

"We do not know his name, but, most of us saw him before he went off to fight that man…" The prisoner said contently, again not specifying who the secondary man was. After a few moments of tense silence, he continued "…It was a man like a moonless night, a swordsman with long black hair. I believe that the boy called him Yuri."

* * *

><p>He still had no idea what had happened to him.<p>

He knew he had killed Suingam, and caused himself a boatload of problems. He knew Flynn would realize it, Flynn would figure out that he had killed Suingam. If the empire had been after him before for attacking Flynn, what would they do now that he had killed one of the council elite?

Honestly, Yuri did not want to think about that.

He needed to try to think in chronological order, beginning with what had happened and then what were the effects. At least, that is how Rita had told Brave Vesperia to think when trying to figure out something, anything. And right now he wanted to figure out what had happened back at that compound, and why?

The last thing he clearly remembered was the feeling similar of doused in ice water, the rest of his recollection dyed in contrasting red and black, accompanied by a slight feeling of insane joy. The recollection of cutting off Suingam's arm was prominent and surrounded by a feeling of giddiness. The fear in the Elite's eyes as Yuri had raised the sword over his head had triggered excitement, and the moment when he had severed Suingam's head steeped in ecstasy.

The rest of the memory was too blurry to make any sense of it. Ryker had told him that he had freed the prisoners somehow by pushing random buttons in the yellow room after killing Suingam. The yellow room? Was that the one Suingam had left from? And how had he freed the prisoners? Had he still been in that strange state when he had freed the skeleton-like people?

Ryker had also told him that he had burned down that compound by destroying all the equipment in that strange yellow room after freeing the prisoners. Yuri did not remember that either. He had wanted to give the innocent that had been killed there a decent burial, and at least let them rest outside that horrible place.

But he figured that a funeral pyre would have to settle. He could not go around feeling guilty for everything that he managed to mess up; he had a job to focus on.

He had woken up outside the raging fire that was that compound a few hours after supposedly setting fire to it. Ryker and Repede had been watching him cautiously, hidden, as the flames had danced dangerously, roasting that horrible place and all that were within it. He was not sure how he had got there or why Ryker and Repede had concealed themselves from view, but he did not wish to dwell on it.

But what was he to do now? Originally, when he had left Zaphias just eight days ago he had his heart set on finding that woman who had cursed him and make her take it off him. But now, he was not so sure. He had killed a man; one of the targets that the woman had told him would break his curse on his life and his freedom.

He had killed Suingam of the Elite, the man who had plotted to destroy the Guilds, the Empire, and Brave Vesperia. The man who had tortured many innocent souls in a place that could be only known as hell to those who inhabited it. Suingam had been a horrible person, one that many people wished dead. But it did not make killing him right.

He sighed, brought down by the burden that he forced to carry, the moral issue that had him torn between right and wrong. He did not want to kill these men and wanted to find the woman to make her free him, but what if he could not pull that off in time? What if the men launched their attack early and killed everyone? He had no idea of how the remaining Elite would react when they found Suingam dead, and besides, he had no idea who, what, where, the woman was.

But on the opposite side, he did want to kill those men, so badly it ached. Yuri was not sure whether it was really him aching with this bloodlust or the curse that made him. If he killed those men, he was a criminal worse than what he was now, even if they were horrible and trying to kill thousands of people and torturing children. In addition, if he did kill them, he could never face his comrades, even if he did not regret his actions.

Especially Estelle.

He was stuck.

Forcing his mind off depressing matters, Yuri instead concentrated on his surroundings. He was now atop of Ehmead Hill, situated under a tree and in the shade as the hot afternoon sun blazed overhead. There was a nice breeze keeping things cool and lazy clouds rolling gradually across the baby blue sky.

He was leaning against the tree, his fingers tangled in the soft grass at its base. To his left, the blond boy had curled up close by, and for the first time since Yuri met him, completely relaxed. Repede sat nearby, laying his head on his paws and taking a quick nap as the afternoon continued leisurely.

It was a good thing that they had taken some time to relax. Yuri needed time to think, and both Repede and Ryker were exhausted. They had been here for almost half an hour, or so Yuri roughly estimated. He would give them another half hour of rest and they needed to move on if they were to get Ryker to Dahngrest.

Hopefully they could beat the Empire there, it would be a tad bit difficult for him if news of his crimes reached the guild city before he did. If he managed to get there before the Empire, before Flynn, he could drop Ryker off there and then decide what to do with himself.

Speaking of the boy, he was waking.

Ryker stirred, rolling on to his back and stretching. He yawned as he slowly sat up, a twig and a few blades of grass in his hair. Yuri tried not to smile as the memory of calling Flynn a bird's nest resurfaced.

"Ahh, Yuri," Ryker murmured, glancing over at the taller swordsman as he rubbed the grime out of his eyes. Yuri smiled as the boy awkwardly positioned himself in an upright position, looking up at the swordsman with a half-asleep gaze as he concluded his previous statement, "What time is it?"

"Still noon," Yuri replied, glancing over to Repede, who remained asleep as Ryker stole a look at the blue sky. The boy was restless, wanting to get to Dahngrest as soon as he could. But something about him had changed since that place, not only was the boy relaxed, but, he seemed to act entirely different.

"I see." The ten-year-old boy responded, crossing his legs before him and resting his elbows on his knees. He seemed torn; Yuri recognized the look and the sensation, one that he too, had been feeling quite a bit recently. Ryker bit his lip and looked up at his companion, before speaking hesitantly, "uh, Yuri, there is something I would like to speak with you about…"

"Well, go ahead." Yuri shrugged, curious about what might be on the boys mind. Maybe the child would tell him more about that compound, Savage Wolf, or Suingam himself. Maybe the boy would tell him something about the hideout of Savage Wolf, or some news from Zaphias that he might have overheard.

"I am not a normal human."

"Well, I sort of figured," Ryker seemed surprised by Yuri's blasé attitude although the boy had just admitted something that might surprise normal people. But the swordsman himself was hardly normal, and explained his reasoning to the child, "You see, Savage Wolf and Suingam were not exactly trying to cover that up."

"Oh..." Ryker breathed deeply, reaching to his ratty shirts neckline and yanked it halfway down his chest, exposing a large green gem set over his heart in an eerily similar fashion to Raven's blastia. Ryker's voice was dissonantly calm as he clarified, "I am a human in every way except for this thing."

"What is so special about that thing, then?" The swordsman asked, definitely curious. If there had been anyone like Raven, with a blastia over their heart to sustain their life, which they, Brave Vesperia, had not known of, shouldn't that person be dead and their blastia a spirit of some sort?

"It is called a Lacrime, type Vita." Ryker began, running his fingers over the green gem with a look of disgust on the child's face that made Yuri pause. It did not seem right to see such a look on a child's face, "With this, I am able to see, steal, transfer, people's life force and then use it as an aid for fighting. I could transform that life force into physical power, magic, or even healing power."

"Whoa." Yuri was floored, his eyes wide with shock and confusion. How could something like that exist for who-knows-how-long and the empire not use it? Unless, the Elite had been planning this coup for decades, then it made more sense. No, that was not the focus right now, instead, Yuri focused his questions on that 'Lacrime' thing, "So, how did you get that thing?"

"My family had been planning a trip to Danhgrest for some time. Last year, we had just left Nordipolica to go and visit Danhgrest when a ship attacked us…" The boy paused, his eyes faraway and downcast, "My family was killed and they took me to one of those places…"

"There's more than one?" Yuri asked, sickened by the possibility alone as the wind picked up, playing with his hair. He did not want to believe that more than one of those terrible places could exist on Terca Lumireis, but it seemed to be the case by the solemn way that Ryker was telling him these things.

"Yes." The boy was serious, and the truth made Yuri almost ill as the child continued on, almost nonchalant about the subject. Then again, that reality that was sickening to the swordsman had been that child's everyday life for the past year, or more. "The first one I was sent to was ran by Lord Ravk of the Elite."

"Ravk? Are you sure?" Yuri felt a stone drop into his stomach as one of his fears was realized. If it was really Ravk, who, with Suingam had one of those giant torture chambers and mini hells, it would be too much of a coincidence and that could only mean one thing…

"Yes. I heard that all of what the Empire calls the Elite has one."

Pieces began to fall into place the second Ryker finished his statement. The product that the Elite had spoke of in Bluebell Meadow, the one that would help destroy both the Empire and the Guilds, could only be the Lacrime.

* * *

><p>AN: Woot. Any theories, anyone?

Also, I figured part of the reason I was having issues with this chapter (rather than being minus a computer and registering for college) and the others is-NO ROMANCE O.O And since that won't be around for a bit longer, I'd like to write some one shots, about 3,000 words or so. What do you all think of that?

Also, what sort of of previews do you guys prefer? Traditional quotes? Little vague one-liners? Chapter name? A paragraph from the next chapter?

Speaking of the next chapter...

Next Time: The Separation: Downpour


	12. The Separation: Downpour

A/N: I start moving into College today. O.O does not quite feel real yet. –

Anyway, without further ado, chapter twelve,

Enjoy.

* * *

><p>Ryker slept peacefully, content now that one of his nightmares was gone. The faded blue covers of the hotel bed pulled up to the boy's ears, only a tuft of golden hair visible as he slept on. When they had arrived to the inn, the boy seemed surprised and so excited to sleep on a real bed.<p>

Repede lay asleep on the rug between the two beds, wet to the bone. The dog was sprawled across the large rug, maybe to help speed up the drying process as he slept or for comfort, perhaps even both. Either way, hopefully, the dog would not come down with a cold.

Yuri watched the rain blankly from his window while he sat cross-legged on his firm bed, messing up the neat alignment of the pillows and comforter. In just his undershirt and in just his undershirt and pants, his vest, belt and boots out to dry. His hair was somewhat damp, finally fully drying out.

It was just his luck to arrive in Capua Nor during a seasonal downpour. The rain probably would not let up for a good two or three days, making travel impossible. He and Ryker would just have to wait for the rain to let up before heading over to Tolbyccia.

The rain reminded him of the first time he came to Capua Nor, with Estelle, Rita, and Karol alongside him in search of Flynn. They had met Raven here, and while chasing him had got into the manor. They had also met Judith and Ba'ul here, the two of them going around and destroying all the Hermes Blastia.

He wondered how they were all doing right now.

Flynn was most likely pissed at him; maybe he had already found Suingam. If that did not scream 'Death Sentence', he did not know what did. The Elite, once they figured it out, if they figured it out, would undoubtedly put out a reward for his head. Flynn was the commandant, and would undoubtedly have to arrest and execute him.

Yuri sighed, instead focusing his thoughts on Rita; she was still probably in Danhgrest with Karol. Karol, Yuri thought with a slight smile, was still probably stuck dealing with Common Wealth. Maybe the old man and Judy had finished their errands and were already back in Danhgrest…

And Estelle… he just hoped she had stayed in Halure, although it seemed unlikely. Regarding her, there were so many questions. How had she slipped past Flynn and snuck out on her own? He had not seen any guards with her, and she was in her travel clothes, which could only mean she was on her own. Why was she out on her own…?

And how would she react now, that he had killed Suingam? Did she know that he had attacked Flynn? He could not see any reason why she would not know. He did not want her to know, he did not want her to see him, to see what he had become. He did not even know what was happening to him.

A truer monster than him had remarked on the change, calling him a 'monster'. He could not, did not, want to know what Estelle would say if she saw him in that state. What any of his friends would say, he did not want to know. He would bear this burden alone.

The rain seemed to intensify outside as night fell swiftly at the port town. The swordsman watched from his window as civilians scurried through the streets and back home, pulling their cloaks over their heads as vendors closed their stalls for the night. It was definitely nearing nightfall as the town lamplighter came around the bend; hook in hand, ready to light the lamps that neatly lined the streets.

Bathed in the grey light from the outside, Yuri turned away from the window and glanced back into the dim room. While it was cold and wet outside, it was warm and dry in the shadowy room. His bare feet against the soft blanket felt odd, something he had not indulged much.

His scattered thoughts danced around in his head dully much like the sound of the rain drumming on the roof above. It as if he was tired, but he could not sleep, numb. He was trying to avoid thinking about his new duty, or come to a decision on what he was to do after he dropped Ryker off in Danhgrest, and his thoughts on what to do with the rest of the elite.

That woman had said something about a game, and that in order to get out alive and save his own skin, he would have to kill the elite. Somehow, the woman had known of the Elite's plot. Was she involved? How else would she have known? Unless, like him, she had also overheard them as they plotted.

But why had she done this? She had something along the lines of "Boredom" but how had she had the power to curse him? Who was she, what was she? There were so many unanswered questions and, the more he thought about it, the more hopeless it seemed to become.

He might as well kill all the elite, but, if he did, he would be a worse monster than he already was. Even if the ones he was to kill were the worst monsters out of them all, monsters that would torture and disfigure helpless children. Monsters that would plot to destroy the empire, the guilds, and everyone that he held dear, it would still be murder.

Either way he was going to take a fall. He knew that if he did nothing, the elite would pull off their plan, destroy everything, and everyone would be dead. Those monsters that tormented children would have free reign over a world, wiped clean of the empire and the guilds.

The rain continued in its unrelenting downpour as the darkness fell completely, shrouding the city in shadows cast from the streetlamps. It was enough. He had made up his mind.

* * *

><p>Sodia wiped some sweat off her brow as the hot evening sun bore down on her and the other knights. They were in the middle of investigating the burnt remains of a building that by all accounts should not have been there. At least, to her knowledge.<p>

However, Commandant Flynn hardly seemed surprised, as if he had somehow known about this place. Of course, though, he was on equal footing with the council, and might even have the power to challenge the elite. If any of them had known about this place, the commandant would also know.

Speaking of the Commandant, he was observing the scene with almost a stoic silence, the destroyed building, and the cowering skeleton people that would not speak to the knights. Some of the malnourished had even fled the scene the moment the knights had arrived.

Ah well, she had more important matters to attend to.

She kept her eyes firmly on the knights as they sifted through the rubble, pulling burned corpses and charcoaled remains, their faces contorting in disgust as the rancid stench of burnt flesh invaded their senses. So far, it seemed that progress was going smoothly on the north end.

She could only hope all was going well on the west and south ends of the building. If this kept up, they could be on their way to Emhead hill by mid afternoon. That would be nice, perhaps they would even find Lady Estellise if they were lucky. That is, assuming she was even heading that way.

Perhaps she might try to speak with the commandant on the matter. Glancing back over her shoulder once more to make sure everything was going smoothly, the coffee-haired woman slowly made her way over to her- no, the beloved commandant.

He surely was attractive as ever as he stood, listening to another knight's report. His beautiful blonde hair framing his handsome and determined face, his sapphire eyes focused as he responded to the knight's report. His silver amour shining in the sun, she could only imagine how hot it was under that amour, the beads of sweat that rolled down the slight curve of his neck…

She found her cheeks slightly burning and reprimanded herself. How dare she shamelessly ogle the commandant during work, and in the middle of such a serious mission! Perhaps it would have been better for her to remain behind in Zaphias but she could not have turned his request down…

Calming herself down, reminding herself that she was going to speak with him on something important- whatever it had been- and that now was not the time to stare at him. Breathing slowly as she made her way towards him, rebuilding her cool exterior, she finally figured that she was ready.

And not a moment too soon as the knight who had previously held council with the commandant decided that he should return to work, leaving her alone with him to speak about how she was feeling- about the situation, and ask about their next move- for tracking down Lady Estellise.

She was still so flustered, how embarrassing.

"Commandant, may I express a few concerns?" Sodia spoke, her voice sharp, cutting him off before he even could open his mouth. She needed to speak before she forgot her reason for approaching him. "I know that this may be suspicious, but how is this helping us track down Lady Estellise?"

"It's not." The commandant admitted after a few moments of silence, glancing over his shoulder to the quiet group of skeleton like people behind them. "But I have a feeling that there is something here we need to see, to find, just something."

Sodia opened her mouth, prepared to tell him that that was no reason for them to dawdle, after all, Lady Estellise was out there, and that could not be good if she was left alone for a large amount of time. Sodia knew Lady Estellise could take care of herself, but she was still a princess. However, before she could even utter a sound, the commandant interrupted her.

"We'll leave in a bit if we don't find anything," He reassured her as she slowly closed her mouth. The commandant turned and skimmed over the burnt building, raising his hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the sun. Sodia knew that he knew what this place was, and she was determined to find out. "Sodia, your report, please."

"Ahh, yes." Sodia snapped herself out of her haze, refocusing herself on the task at hand, "This building seems to have obviously burnt down, however, it seems that it had been built of stone and metal, so something is still missing. From what has been observed, it seems there was an internal explosion inside the building."

The commandant was silent as he mulled over her report, in the meantime, Sodia observed him. She did not mean to, it just sort of happened. Right now, she was focused on his jaw line for some reason, her eyes trailing down his neck. He shifted, snapping her attention back to his face as she forced the blush down.

"Commandant!" A panicked cry echoed across the clearing as both Sodia and Flynn immediately focused their attention on the knight darting towards them, his eyes wide and alarmed as he skidded to a stop before them. "Commandant, this is horrible!"

"What is it?" The commandant replied hastily, a sense of urgency in his voice as the knight tried to catch his breath. Sodia could not help but be interested, tense, yes, but definitely curious of what had gone and got this knight all riled up.

"We… we found Lord Suingam's body!"

Suingam? Wait, the member of the elite, the head body of the empire. The ones who controlled the money flow to all parts of the empire? The ones who had ordered them to return Lady Estellise to Zaphias? He was dead? What had he been doing here?

A few more minutes passed by as the knight told the commandant the exact state of the body that they had recovered. It was found headless and slightly burned; the head had been recovered minutes later, also burned in the large expanse surrounded by melted glass and hundreds of other burnt bodies.

The blond had commanded the man to have the knights excavate it, offering to go in himself to help when the knight from earlier returned, carelessly shoving past Sodia in an effort to get closer to the commandant, announcing that one of the skeletal people was offering to inform them about this place.

So it was that now, at almost mid afternoon, the coffee haired woman found herself alongside her beloved commandant approaching one of the skeleton men. She took a good look at the man, like the others he was pasty white, his bones protruding forth from his skin, blue eyes sunken into his face with thinning blond hair. And, like every single skeletal person there, he had a strange red gem at his breast.

"Sir, may I ask you a question?" The commandant asked, getting down on one knee, eye level with the man before him. Sodia, noticing the commandant's actions, followed suite, sitting on the ground cross-legged behind him. She swept her eyes over all the people here, trying not to recoil when meeting their untrusting gazes.

"Haha, a little pink haired girl asked me that just yesterday." The man laughed hoarsely, startling both the Commandant and Sodia. Sodia glanced at the blond commandant, wondering if he was thinking the same thing she was as the pale and emaciated man continued lazily, "Fire away."

"Can you tell me about this place?" The blond knight requested, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist. Sodia kept an eye on their surroundings, glancing back at the knights as they continued removing body after body from the wreckage of the compound behind them.

"The little pinky asked that too…" The man laughed, this time loudly, as if amused. The other people with him looked surprised, or at least the ones around him, staring at him in astonishment. Sodia briefly wondered when they had last heard laughter.

It had to be Lady Estellise.

But, what exactly did she think she was doing? Was she really chasing down Lowell, and if so, why? Sodia figured that that man had made himself pretty clear when he left the capital without saying anything to anybody, including her, and attacking the commandant. So why was Lady Estellise chasing him down…?

No, she could focus on that later. Right now she had more important matters to attend to. They were to get the testimony of the people here, and then maybe they could move on. If they were lucky, they could be to Capua Nor by tomorrow. Refocusing her attention on the man, she listened as he began his tale.

"Well, let's see here…" He sighed, "That place was called Peis by those who ran it…"

* * *

><p>Standing atop Emhead hill, Estelle looked out towards Capua Nor, trying to convince herself that she could see it although it was beyond the horizon. Fidgeting anxiously, waiting for Rita to finish resting and getting ready to go, the pink haired princess stepped over a puddle and glanced over to the skyline. She knew that he was there. She just knew it.<p>

Impatiently glancing over her shoulder to her younger and much more serene companion as she scribbled notes in her book, a few fluffy spare quills tucked behind her ears, her head appearing as though it had wings. The mage's eyes narrowed as she hurriedly dipped her quill in the ink, before returning to her notes. She paid little mind to the fresh ink on her clothing as it joined all the other age-old stains.

Estelle huffed, returning to her little routine of patrolling the area between the left side of the path and the right. Yuri was there in Capua Nor, so close, but so far away. Why could not they go on after him already? She had so much she wanted to ask him, so much she was curious about…

She stopped for a moment, a crimson blush staining her features as the dream returned to her, if it had truly been a dream. It was a shameless dream, one that had been so wonderful and yet so sad at the same time. That dream, that little push that had sent on out of the castle and after him.

Stepping back and forth on her heels, she once more recalled the fact and sudden understanding that she had abandoned her entire life, her home in the castle, and her status for that dream. Perhaps she had been too rash. Romanced by that dream, had acted, while not fully comprehending the consequences of her actions.

Even if that was the case, she mulled thoughtfully as she moved forward a few steps, she could not go back now. She had made her choice to chase after that dream, she wanted to catch it, and change it from a dream to a reality. It probably would not be easy, but things one wants most were always the hardest to attain….

Estelle paused as she stepped in the puddle, the cool water surprising her as she withdrew her foot from the muck. Slightly annoyed, she shook her muddy foot for a few moments, slightly hopping on one foot awkwardly. If Rita had paid her any mind, she would be laughing herself silly.

The pink haired maiden sighed as she finally calmed down. The water in the puddle stilled as the mud fell to the bottom, the water mirror like surface reappearing. Estelle curiously cast a glance at the puddle, her bewildered reflection staring back at her.

She did not recognize the girl who stared back at her. Gentle tresses of rose pink hair dipped slightly beneath her shoulders, her bangs curling around her face, hugging her cheekbones. Her body had slightly changed as well, although she was still incomparable to Judith in the 'bouncy' department. This girl that stared back at her seemed certain of what she wanted. Almost confident. It did not remind her of herself at all.

Estelle tore her eyes from the stranger in the water as she moved restlessly around the small rest stop, not noticing that her younger friend had let down her quill and was watching her with a small, amused smile on her face. She knew exactly what her pink haired friend was thinking.

What was taking Rita so long, anyway? Estelle thought, peeking back at the mage over a delicate shoulder. She was surprised to see her cleaning up, packing away the ink and the feathers as she set out her book for the ink to dry. The princess blinked, taken aback by Rita's sudden desire to move on.

"What?" Rita asked, sounding amused, meeting the pink haired girl's green eyes with her aquamarine ones. She shook her head at Estelle's nearly stunned look, before continuing with a giggle, "You just can not sit still, and I can not even focus on my work with you moving around so impatiently."

"Oh, I am sorry, Rita." Estelle apologized, embarrassed. She had not comprehended that she was moving around that much while waiting, as she had been mostly lost in her thoughts of Yuri, herself, and change in general. Shaking her head and approaching Rita, the pink haired woman rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably as the mage spoke up.

"Don't apologize, silly." The mage smiled, leaning down, plucking her book from the rock she had set it upon. Her eyes skimmed over the pages, before snapping the book shut before her, sighing and walking up to her pink haired friend and patting her on the shoulder. "Now, let's go and get him."

"Thank you, Rita." Estelle beamed excitedly, skipping ahead of her friend cheerfully before glancing over her shoulder and laughing. Finally, they were finally on their way to Capua Nor. Soon, she knew that soon she would finally get to see him again. Was he all right? She hoped he was not hurt or anything.

She would ask him why he had left. Why he and Flynn had fought, how Flynn had that injury, as she doubted Yuri did it on purpose. And, why he seemed to be avoiding her. Of course, he did not have to tell her anything, but she had to try. She just had to try.

But she was not scared, quite the opposite, as there was a noticeable bounce in her step as she made her way down the hill, Rita jogging behind to catch up with her. The highly energetic Estelle did not notice, instead, her thoughts focused on what to do and what to say when she saw Yuri again.

Oh course; she really did not know how it was going to go. All that she really knew was that she wanted to see him again.

* * *

><p>It was still raining.<p>

Sighing in annoyance, the swordsman turned his gaze away from the rainy downtown and back to the room, his eyes scanning over the walls and across Repede, still snoozing on the floor, and then across Ryker, slumbering on the bed, covers up to his ears.

He went to sit up, but his body felt heavy. Yuri blinked dumbly, suddenly feeling dizzy, his body tingling almost painfully. It took him a moment to realize that he had fallen asleep, although he did not recall sleep or being tired in the first place. But he had apparently fell asleep.

He sighed, forcing himself to move despite the strange tingling in his limbs and moved over to the edge of the bed. With some difficulty, he propped himself up to a sitting position, hanging his head low as he waited for the wave of dizziness to pass. The swordsman brought the palm of his hand to his forehead, cradling it gently.

Yuri glanced over to his travel back at the foot of the bed, dropped there unceremoniously the night before by the swordsman himself. Suppressing a yawn and running a hand through his unkempt hair, Yuri sluggishly got to his feet and made his way to the satchel, stubbing his toes into the bedpost while doing so.

"Fu-!" The swordsman half yelled as he backed away from the. Hissing curses through his clenched teeth as hopped on one foot, trying not to step on Repede's tail and anger the dog as he waited for the throbbing so subside. Now cursing the dim lighting, the dark haired man slightly limped, carefully, around the bed and to the bag.

At least he was awake now.

He opened the bag and rummaged through it, a few gels, life bottles and various other bottles met his eyes. They were running very low on everything, and he was beginning to tire of using Flamberge, he should have brought other weapons so he could mix up the weapons occasionally.

Only thirty thousand gald too, minus the five hundred gald for the passage across the straight, it would last. First, he needed to do some shopping. Repede could take care of himself and Ryker in case anything happened, and besides, Fortune's Market was just down the street from the inn.

Yuri plucked up his vest and belt, throwing his vest over his shoulders and carefully slipped on his belt, making sure he put it on rig, or it would fall off and that was always embarrassing. His boots were still damp, but he put them on anyway, they were going to get wet again anyway.

Picking up his bag and making sure that the gald, the synthesis materials, the remaining gels and bottles were all there, Yuri headed for the door. He slipped quietly past Repede and opened the door equally silently, doing his best to wake them. Casting them one final glance, the swordsman softly closed the door behind him, his mind set on the market.

For such a rainy day, there were many people that littered the streets, strolling through the road with an umbrella propped over their shoulder. In hindsight, spending a hundred and fifty gald on one of those would have probably been a good investment. However, he did not, even though he might definitely get one on the way back to the inn.

Surprisingly, the fortune's market booth was completely empty, there wasn't even a person operating the stall and people passed it by as if it was not even there. Yuri raised an eyebrow; this wasn't a sight he was used to seeing, last he had checked, fortunes market was the head of marketing and shipping all over the world.

Maybe he should ask around town, perchance they knew anything about the booth being mysteriously silent, and the fortune's market representative being strangely absent. Maybe he came during breakfast break or something, although that still did not explain the lack of product there.

According to the town's people, the storm had been raging unrelentingly for almost two weeks, and in that time, Fortune's market had been cleared out completely by busy buyers, so, until their next shipment from Torim, Nor's fortune's market would be dry. And the next shipment from Torim would not come until the storm had passed, and that was not even in sight.

However, there was one, cheaper and accordingly better, alternative. A large, yet simple stall set near the entrance of town with a cheeky operator had captured the town's attention, selling gels and bottles as well as household goods and everything else under the sun, and all for a better price than Fortune's Market.

And so it was that Yuri found himself walking over to the large yet simple stand. He raised an eye skeptically at the almost processed looking stand with its plain white banner and simple black lettering, labeling the stall 'Common Wealth'. On the right was a small wooden plaque with the guild's mission statement.

He remembered Karol mentioning this guild before, yeah, the guild had tried commissioning Brave Vesperia on some sort of mission, but Karol, inexplicably suspicious, had denied the commission. But apparently Common Wealth had not figured it out, and had kept trying to convince them. They had still been trying when Yuri had left for Zaphias.

Ah well. As long as they had the products he needed, he could worry about their suspiciousness another time. There was already quite a crowd, even in the rain, around the small stand. Apparently, it was every bit as popular as everyone had said, which was great and all, but Yuri did not want to be out in the rain any longer than he would have to be.

The crowd thinned out in minutes and Yuri quickly slipped up to the stand. An attractive young lady with carrot-orange hair and freckles sprinkled across an upturned nose greeted him pleasantly, asking what he was interested in. To her right, another young woman with silver gold hair, a pale complexion with a straight long nose was selling some household wares to a middle-aged couple.

"I'm just interested in some traveling supplies." Yuri replied. The girl nodded cheerfully and reached into her evergreen-hued apron, pulling out a small blue card with a large letter on it in yellow ink. She turned to him and handed him the card, much to his confusion.

"Go to this stall and see Morebella. She'll help you out." The girl spoke in a twangy accent, making Yuri think of a certain guild member. Suddenly, the girl leaned forward, forcing the man to back a little as she pointed to the left. "She's bout two over, so good luck good looking."

And yet again, he found himself ducking through the crowd, that had, despite the rain, grown with crazed shoppers. He could hear crazed wives yelling about how they needed to get their supplies before the storm forced even Common Wealth to close for a bit. How long did they expect the storm to last, anyway?

Finally, Yuri saw the blazing gold letter matching the one on the card, and made his way over to the stall. A short and voluptuous dark skinned woman with crazy curly black hair stood there, handing over some gels to a tall, wiry young man as he fumbled in handing her the money. After a few moments, the man finally left, his face bright red.

Looks like someone had a crush.

"Next!" The little woman yelled impatiently, and it took Yuri a few moments to realize that the little short and curvy meant him. He moved up to the stand, having to look down at the short woman with a plain face. "So, you jist gunna stand there, or are ya gunna buy somthin'?"

"I don't know, what are you selling?" Yuri retorted almost instinctively, putting one hand on his hip and angling his head to look down at her. The woman seemed taken aback, then, after a few moments burst out laughing, this time startling the swordsman.

"Ya know what? You're alright." The woman chuckled, throwing her curly hair over her shoulder and stepping up, matching the swordsman's posture, except she looked up at him instead of down. "My name's Morebella. Now how can I help ya?"

"I'm looking for some gels. Any gels would be nice." Yuri began, checking his travel pack, and flipping through the contents lazily, "Some bottles, weapons, magic lenses, armor. Just about a bit of everything."

"Well, we have apple gels for fifty gald, orange gels for one hundred, mélange gels for two hundred fifty, lemon gels for five hundred, pineapple gels for five hundred fifty, miracle gels for a thousand…" She stopped briefly, before laughing again and reaching below the counter and pulling out a list with prices. "…or maybe this'll be easier on ya ears."

"Thank you." Yuri muttered, taking the list from her, his eyes skimming over the list of products. Well, everything certainly was cheaper here than at Fortunes Market, and Common Wealth also seemed to have a larger and broader selection of nearly everything. So far, all the rumors and the praise had proven true.

"Ten apple gels, ten orange gels, ten mélange gels, five lemon gels, five pineapple gels, five miracle gels, seven life bottles, three panacea bottles, three poison bottles, fifteen magic lenses, an' a lottery gel, correct?" Morebella asked only minutes later, checking his order carefully, "Ya also synthesized one Vorpal Sword an' one poison charm, correct?"

"Yup."

"That'll be twenty two thousand an' four hundred gald, please." Morebella said after spending a few moments scribbling on her notepad. She then turned around and busied herself assembling the supplies behind the counter while Yuri flipped through his wallet, preparing the money. She spun around, holding a decent sized brown sack, "There ya go, uh…"

"Yuri Lowell."

"Well, there ya go, Mr. Lowell."

And there you go, Missus Morebella." Yuri said evenly, handing her a small, bulging bag of gald, exchanging it for the other bag. He prepared to turn away and fight through the crowd, when another thought struck his mind. He turned back to her, a question on the tip of his tongue.

"Sorry handsome, ya alright an' ya funny an' all, but I got someone already." The short curvy woman chuckled before he could even speak up. She ignored his bewildered look and flipped her hair over her shoulder yet again, speaking with authority. "An' ya see, I don't date strangers an' all."

"Well that's awfully disappointing." Yuri retorted with a wry smile, catching on to the woman's teasing. The both of them shared a laugh for a moment before getting down to business. "Actually, I was going to ask about ship-ticket prices around here since it seems Fortune's Market is not running right now."

"Well, Common Wealth promises twenty five percent cut from any price that Fortune's Market offers. An', when the storm ends, it'll take Fortune's Market a week or two to clear the straight and get here." Morebella began, leaning on the counter, "Not to mention Common Wealth will be ready to go the moment the storm ends an' it's cheaper."

"How cheap is cheaper?" Yuri inquired curiously, still wary of Common Wealth, not romanced by the amusing cashier in the least. She was entertaining and playful, not at all like the pleasant, yet standoffish, Fortune's Market's cashiers and seemed as though she should be a barista instead of a cashier.

"Well, it's about three thousand gald per person to get to Torim through Fortune's Market..." The voluptuous woman sighed, twisting her hair around one of her short, pudgy fingers as she kept an eye on him, interested by his sudden question. "An' only a little over two thousand through Common Wealth…"

"Thanks."

He wrestled his way through the crowd, his mind on full throttle. Common Wealth was competing with Fortunes Market. In addition, it made no sense why Common Wealth would have supplies while Fortune's Market did not. He would have to remember this.

But for now, back to the Inn, and his current, already abundant problems.

* * *

><p>AN: Whoopee! It is done!

Ok, there have been one vote for oneliners and one for paragraphs…so…I'm stuck.

For now, have a unicorn.

Next:

**Estelle and Rita arrive in Capua Nor**

_Just as the rain stops_

**Later, Flynn and Sodia, also arrive in Capua Nor!**

_To catch a glimpse of one of the who's they are looking for_

**And stuff…**


	13. The Separation : Confrontation

_A/N: I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE! I was just...getting adjusted to college honestly. And I got lazy. ^^' As an apology, I rewrote the end of my crappy chapter for a little bit of extra...fun? Sorry again, and I'll try to get back to a normal update schedule with normal, quality writing. ^^'_

* * *

><p>It was still raining when he woke.<p>

His head throbbing duly, the swordsman slowly sat up, his body tingling in protest as his eyes skimming the room around him for his traveling companions. No sign of them. Perhaps the two of them went for a walk around town. If that was the case, Ryker would be fine as long as Repede was with him. He had little to worry about as long as that was the case.

Instead, he focused on other pressing matters. For whatever reason, he had not seen a wanted poster or a single knight on the lookout for him. But he couldn't possibly be exempt from his actions, he had attacked and almost killed the commandant, and had beheaded one of the Elite. Although, he had no idea whether or not the Empire knew he had done it or not.

Yet, at least. For now he would remain wary.

His thoughts turned to Estelle. He was rather curious of what she was up to, last he had checked, she wasn't exactly allowed outside the castle grounds, much less out of Zaphias. Was she tracking him down herself? If so, why? Why she should chase him down instead of just leaving it to the knights to find him and drag his sorry ass back to Zaphias?

The rain was letting up.

He shook his head before he delved any deeper into those sorts of thoughts. He needed to remain focused on the task at hand. He would get the boy to Danhgrest like he had promised, do what was necessary regarding the elite, and then he would try to find out more information about that woman and her companion.

Of course, he only had their descriptions at his disposal, and exposure to what he figured to be only a sliver of the woman's power. It didn't seem worldly, as Rita had once mentioned that permanent curse magic had been outlawed long before even the great war. Of course, there was no telling if everyone actually gave up those sort of spells and the like. So, he would have to track her down by her description alone.

The thought alone was met with swift retribution.

Doubling over in pain and coughing severely reminded him that he wasn't allowed to freely speak of her. His throat dry as he all but hacked up a lung, Yuri was surprised when he felt something warm and wet on his hand. Slightly grossed out, thinking perhaps it was saliva, he reached over to grab a handkerchief when he noticed that it was not saliva that coated his palm, but blood.

Staring at his palm incredulously, he wondered if he had reopened any of his serious wounds from that first battle with Asalle and that other Savage Wolf guild member. No, those were well on their way to almost fully healing over, and he had no major wounds since then. Well, that he knew of at least.

The door creaked slightly, drawing him out of his musings. He could hear Repede's telling patter as he trotted up to the door, and could see the knob begin to turn. Yuri quickly snatched his handkerchief and wiped his bloody palm on it, hoping to hide the evidence of his condition and not desiring to have to explain for why he had blood on his hand with no viable source.

The door swung open and a tuft of golden hair peeked slightly from the doorway, a pair of bright hazel eyes meeting the swordsman's obsidian ones meekly. Seeing that his companion was awake, the boy smiled widely and stepped into the room energetically, no longer treading surreptitiously as he had before.

The kid better be energetic after all that sleeping he had done yesterday.

"Yuri, Yuri, guess what!" The boy announced, half skipping up to the swordsman and looking up excitedly at him. "The rain has stopped! Common Wealth's running the ferry to Capua Torim in a few hours!"

That was certainly a good reason for excitement. He had no desire to sit through another seasonal rain shower that could delay him for another week. Estelle might catch up with him, and if the knights were even after him, they would surely get him by then.

"Well then, that's good." Yuri smiled, pushing himself off the bed and stretching slowly. He peeked outside the window, spotting the two common wealth ferries sitting side by side, people already starting to line up as so to get the best cabins available. "We'll have to hurry if we plan on having a half-decent ride there."

Ryker nodded, and walked over to the window, eying the growing crowd around the pier as Yuri walked over to his pile of crumpled clothes. Repede watched him suspiciously from the doorway as the swordsman reached down and plucked his vest from the floor.

As Yuri dressed, Ryker watched the harbor. His eyes were bright and curious as he watched people move about their daily lives and attend to their business. Yuri doubted that the boy had ever seen something like this before, but that was by no means abnormal, as most people dared not venture outside their townships anyway.

Yuri finished tying his belt around his waist and scanned the room for his boots. Confused when he couldn't find them, he made a move forward, and nearly tripped over his footwear at his feet. Slightly embarrassed by his display of clumsiness, Yuri stole a quick glance around the room to make sure no one saw that.

Ryker was still watching the people at the harbor, but Repede was watching the swordsman with a steely gaze and Yuri got the feeling that the dog knew more than he was letting on. Yuri sighed, awkwardly sat down and bent over to put on his boots.

He failed to notice his handkerchief falling out of his breast pocket.

When he sat up again, he looked over to see Repede eyes switch from eying the bloody rag to looking the swordsman straight in the eye. The knowing look in the dog's eyes told Yuri everything that he needed to know.

He snatched the bloody cloth from the ground and hastily shoved it into his belt. Great, so now Repede knew something was amiss.

"Okay, Ryker, you ready?" Yuri spoke up, snapped the by out of his daze. Ryker nodded once, and trotted over to the door, beside Repede and looked up at Yuri expectantly. Yuri sighed and stretched, looking around the room. "Alright, lets go."

* * *

><p>A rainbow greeted them as they entered Capua Nor, a sure sign of good fortune according to the ever energetic Estelle. However, the ever realist Rita figured that it had just stopped raining and the particles of water in the atmosphere was reflecting light into their eyes.<p>

Regardless, the streets of Capua Nor were littered with people crowding around a newer stall that certainly wasn't Fortune's Market, dodging puddles and trying not to slip on the wet cobblestone. Further down, around a pier, another herd of people similar to the first. They certainly paid no mind to Estelle's so called sign of good fortune.

The mage frowned, wondering exactly what Estelle's next move was. Were they to search for Yuri here? There was no guarantee that he was even here, he could have returned to Halure instead of heading North to the harbor. As much as the mage trusted her friend, she wanted to know exactly what the girl wanted to do.

Wait, she knew that already. Estelle wanted to find Yuri. It was so simple and cute it almost made her want to gag herself. Estelle had told her everything, including her decision to leave the empire.

Had the gravity of her decision sunk in yet? Rita thought as she followed her friend to the 'Common Wealth' stand. Did Estelle realize that she couldn't just throw away her title so easily, especially since she was a princess? How could she just stand there and smile friendlily as she asked about supplies with the girl at the stand?

Estelle had thrown it all away for something that she herself was unsure of, how could she be so careless? Rita bit her bottom lip as she dodged the people in the street, keeping up with the peppy, if somewhat illogical, princess. Estelle did realize that she was probably being tracked, and when they caught up to her she would be quarantined? And in the slim chance she wasn't being tracked, she could probably never get that life as princess back?

Besides, Rita mulled with a sour pout, crossing her arms, there was no guarantee that they'd ever find Yuri. Terca Lumiries was huge, a person could disappear off the face of the known world pretty easily. She glanced over at Estelle as the 'princess' chatted up short dark skinned woman whose voice held a similar tang to that of a certain 'Old man' that Rita knew fairly well.

Ugh.

Just as the mage was about to start mentally ranting once again, Estelle suddenly screamed joyously, surprising the mage so much that she jumped a good foot from the ground and skittered backwards several feet, nearly running into and knocking over a tall skinny young man.

After scrambling to her feet and pushing past the startled young man, Rita shoved her embarrassment aside and clambered back to Estelle's side. Her hair in disarray and somewhat out of breath, Rita grabbed Estelle by the shoulder and asked breathlessly, her heartbeat thundering in her chest, "What the heck was that?"

"Oh Rita, its fantastic!" Estelle all but squealed, wrapping her arms around a bewildered Rita and hugging her tightly, her emerald eyes sparkling with joy "Miss Morebella saw Yuri! She even knows where he's going! Isn't it wonderful!"

Well. That was relatively easy.

"Uh, yeah." Rita replied, dazed as her friend, brimming with excitement, finally let her go. Seriously? That little woman, perhaps even shorter than she was, knew where Yuri was? How the hell did she know? Maybe it was a trap? Perhaps she was working for the knights, surely Estelle was playing along so as not to get caught?

"I'm going to go buy some tickets for the boat, hopefully they're not sold out yet!" Estelle chirped, already taking off down the street, "Rita, could you buy a few more supplies please? Thank you!"

...or not.

"Hahaha! Who knew that Mr. Lowell had quite the cutie lookin for him?" The little woman that Estelle had called 'Miss Morebella' chuckled, leaning forward against her counter top, oblivious to Rita's look of distrust before turning to the her fully with a large smile. "So, how can I help ya girlie?"

Rita scowled for a moment, stuck between chasing after Estelle and interrogating the woman before her. After nearly a minute's struggle, Rita decided to listen to Estelle's request and hoped that her friend could last a few minutes on her own. Well, she had made it all the way from the castle to the Quoi Woods on her own...

"You, how do you know Yuri?" Rita demanded, her eyes narrowing mistrustfully as the voluptuous woman eyed the mage with a look of amusement, a look the younger girl did not appreciate in the slightest.

"He stopped by yesterday an left quite the impression." The dark skinned woman sighed with a smile, readjusting her weight slightly. At the mage's still wary expression, Morebella flipped her hair back over her shoulder and continued. "Little Miss Pinky an I already went over all the details."

"And how do I know if you're telling the truth?" Rita challenged, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "There could be another Yuri Lowell that is also quite impressionable."

"In that case I wouldn't be a lyin." The woman smiled, now leaning forward, a knowing smiled spreading across her face. "Besides Yuri and Lowell aren't exactly common names. Anyway, the Yuri Lowell I met was somewhat tall with black hair, eyes, and clothes. A sarcastic guy with a sense of humor."

Yup, that was Yuri all right.

Before Rita could open her mouth again to continue the conversation, much less buy any supplies, Estelle came bouncing back excitedly, waving two boat tickets in the air. In minutes, she was dragging Rita away to the harbor, declaring that they must not miss the ship. And somehow, over Estelle's energetic chatter and the buzz of the crowd, Rita could hear the cashier laughing and yelling,

"Go getim girlie!"

* * *

><p>Flynn had a good feeling.<p>

He didn't know why, but he knew that something good was going to happen, and soon. As he surveyed Nor Harbor, crowded with people around the Common Wealth stand , wrestling for positions in the growing line, the feeling grew. Quite a ways down, he could see a crowd at the harbor, probably vying for tickets onto the ship.

He guessed that a seasonal rainstorm had just ended, and everyone wanted to get over to Capua Torim before the rain started up again. Including him, but only if Lady Estellise had traveled that way. Maybe Yuri had went that way, that would be reason enough to go.

Yuri...

Flynn's eyes narrowed and he felt a rush of a mixture of feelings, making his head spin. He didn't want to think about that for too long, what they had managed to get out of the skeletal prisoners back at Peis.

He cradled his head in the palm of his hand at even the thought of that place. He had known that Suingam had his own private home hidden away near Aspio...but what were all those people doing there? They had said that they were prisoners there, but that would insinuate that Suingam was behind the mastermind that was Peis.

And Yuri had killed him.

It did not take a genius to figure it out, of course, it could have been someone else, like an internal conflict that could have resulted in his death. But the way that those prisoners spoke, Flynn was fairly sure that Yuri was the one behind Suingam's untimely demise.

Why had things come to this?

What the hell was Yuri thinking?He knew that the moment that the Empire, and the remaining Elite found out, if they found out, that would be an instantaneous death sentence? Did he not care anymore? Why had he not told anyone what was going on?

Last he had spoke with Yuri, it seemed he could not tell anything. He had appeared to be in physical pain from no viable source, and Yuri wasn't the type to fake something like that. What exactly had happened to him at Bluebell Meadow?

Something had definitely happened at Bluebell Meadow, but what? Was it something so terrible that Yuri decided to shoulder it alone... no, that made no sense. But the only thing so far that he had been able to figure that Yuri had overheard the Elite plan something there, but he wasn't seen by them.

Flynn's eyes widened in sickening realization as an obvious thought entered his head, okay, elite had not found him. He could believe that. But if the elite had not noticed him, and yet Yuri still could not reveal whatever he had heard, or saw...the Elite had not caught him, But someone else had.

And somehow, they had sworn the hard-headed Yuri into secrecy. But who in the world could do that? Was it something that Yuri had decided to do alone, no, Yuri wouldn't do something like that without good reason. But still, if Yuri had done what Flynn thought he had, then...

"Commandant!"

Sodia's sharp yell snapped him out of his heavy handed thoughts, drawing him back to reality before he walked right off the pier and into ocean.

Gasping in surprise and he balanced himself precariously at the edge of the dock by waving his arms wildly. Flynn was about to fall face first into the icy water next to the ship that was taking sail when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, and with a mighty heave, yanked him backwards and on to the dock.

Flynn landed on his knees onto the wet wood, his head spinning. Sitting there and breathing heavily from his unexpected adventure, the commandant tried to make sense of what had just occurred. He looked up from the wood to see Sodia gasping a few inches from him.

"Commandant, please pay more attention to your surroundings!" The woman hissed, also struggling for air. Her face was slightly flushed, and her hair was messy. Probably from just pulling his dumb and heavy ass back onto the pier.

Flynn flushed red in shame more so than humiliation from his near accident. Smacking himself upside the head with a groan, he asked himself how he could have not noticed that he had walked straight through town. How had he not ran into at several people? And how dare he make his second in command save him? Even if it was just from falling into the ocean...

"I'm sorry, Sodia." Flynn murmured, awkwardly getting to his feet and offering her a hand up. She glared at him momentarily, her eyes softening as she reached up and took up his offer. As Flynn gently pulled her to her feet, he could feel just how light she was, she had to weigh fifty kilograms or less. Was she eating enough?

He knew little about women, but he knew that fifty kilograms was slightly unhealthy, especially for a knight. Was she worried about something, leading her to eat less or something? He had heard that women had hormonal eating stages due to their, uh, woman-ness.

He opened his mouth, the question on his lips when the woman before him's face changed drastically from contentment to anger. Confused, Flynn could only stare at her as her lips trembled in rage and her eyes narrowed.

The commandant spun around to see what she saw, his eyes grazing the ocean, he remained confused. Blue sparkling waves as far as the eye could see. Nope, that wasn't it. Instead he looked over the ship, now a good distance offshore. Squinting his eyes, he scanned the crowd of people looking over the deck.

Speak of the devil.

Sodia's hiss snapped him out of it as she drew back her hand and pointed at the sailing ship violently. Looking like a wild woman, her voice trembled with fury as she unleashed an unearthly scream.

* * *

><p>For a moment, everything seemed still.<p>

She knew that voice.

The world moved slowly around her as she moved her eyes over the pier, grazing over what seemed to be a pair of knights, one blonde, the other one with fawn colored hair. The prickle of fear in her chest was replaced with the realization that they were not calling out to her.

Her breath seized as the name repeated itself in her mind.

She knew that name.

Over and over, louder and louder. Here? Now?

She had once heard that the best time to find something was when you weren't looking, but had thought little of it.

Quickly, she scanned her eyes over the other passengers, stopping suddenly almost directly in front of her. She could see it now, it was so obvious it almost made her want to cry. How had she not seen it before?

Her body moved on its own, flying past the others, her companion, and down the flight of stairs.

Finally.

She brushed by people whose faces she didn't recognize, carefully weaving through the crowd.

Finally.

There was a glimpse from up ahead, a glimmer of hope, a spark of joy and a wight of fear meeting all together at once in one tangled mess.

Finally.

She nearly ran into another passenger, but she did not notice, instead dodging around the man fluidly.

Finally.

She slowed, then stopped, her body inflamed with the rush of blood as she stood there panting, slowly raising her eyes to his.

Finally.

* * *

><p>He turned away from the railing, wishing to further the distance between him and the pair of knights at the dock as a knife of guilt wedged itself into his chest. He met her gaze by accident.<p>

Any and every thought in his mind disappeared in an instant.

She was right there, standing right there, before him.

Wait.

She just stood there and stared, gasping, looking at him. Her hair messy, eyes wide, cheeks flushed.

Now what?

A trickle of sweat rolled down his neck as he remembered to breathe, a jumble of confusion and fear inside of him, twisting painfully at the pit of his stomach.

How?

Was she here? If Flynn was down there, he would expect that she be back at the castle.

Why?

Was she here? What did she think she was doing? What was her purpose here?

What now?

He gulped with some difficulty, his throat parched. Why was he so scared?

Should he run?

A gentle breeze, much like the ones on the roof of that home in lower quarter that they had shared together, caressed his skin.

It was so soft, much like her hand that was slowly reaching for him, trembling like a leaf in the wind.

His heart skipped a beat as she drew closer, her soft pink lips moving delicately as she spoke so softly.

He should run.

He couldn't, not now that she had entrapped him in that spell she was unconsciously weaving.

Run.

Her hand was just inches away from his face, so close, that he could feel the warmth emanating from it.

He ran.

* * *

><p>Where did he think he was going?<p>

Estelle blinked, standing still for a few seconds, watching Yuri dart down the deck, dodging people fluidly. In a few more seconds she would loose sight of him. A sudden rush of energy sent her flying down the crowded deck after him, her dress whipping in the wind.

She could see his long hair as he rounded the corner and descended down the stairs to the lower deck. She flew down after him, determined to catch up to him. Estelle leaped past a couple of people and surveyed the crowd.

Had she lost sight of him?

She quickly scanned the other passengers, trying to seek out the swordsman from among the other people on the lower deck. Had she lost track of him? They were on a ship, where could he run to?

She saw a glimpse of long, black hair to her left and followed it, darting along the edge of the railing Her heart skipped a beat as she wrestled her way through the throes of people. There was a buzz that faded promptly into the background as she finally got another good look at him.

She was back on his trail. Why was he running from her like he had done something terribly wrong? Well, yes, he had attacked Flynn, and had been acting rather strangely. But still, why was he running from her? Was he scared of her? She would get her answers, unlike in Zaphias where he obviously lied to her, or in Halure where he simply escaped out of sight.

He would not get away this time.

* * *

><p>What the hell.<p>

Rita stood alone, flabbergasted. Well, that certainly had not taken long. She had not expected to find Yuri on the very same ship that she and Estelle had booked, albeit at the last minute. This could be good for Estelle, or this could be bad for her if Yuri were an idiot about it.

Rita wanted to chase after her, but the mage knew that this was something Estelle needed to face on her own. Rita knew that, and for some reason, she knew that it would probably best if she just stayed away, and let Estelle handle this on her own. Didn't mean she wanted to, if anything she wanted to fry that idiot for worrying Estelle.

Her eyes drifted over where the swordsman had stood just minutes before Estelle had chased him down. Repede and a young boy looked over in the direction that Yuri had taken off, Estelle on his tail. The little squirt was probably so confused by now of what exactly was going on.

Perhaps she should question him, find out exactly what he knew that Yuri was up to. She figured that if that little brat had been with Yuri these past couple of days, or had it been a week, maybe he could provide some useful information. Well, if that was truly the child Yuri was reported to be traveling with.

And who knew, maybe the boy could enlighten her on the situation, on what exactly Yuri himself was doing.

* * *

><p>He had nowhere to run.<p>

His heart thudding in an unsteady cadence as he took several shallow breaths, he tried to seek another way out. He was trapped at the end of a hallway, her petite footsteps rapidly approaching. What had he been thinking, doing below deck? There was no way out from where he was now.

He scanned the hall, half panicking, determined to find an escape. There did not seem to be any, no stairs leading back up, no doors leading to other halls or places he could hide from her. There wasn't anything... He turned to his right, eyes catching the little broom closet at the end of the hall.

He didn't hesitate, and darted into the small, enclosed space, slamming the door shut behind him and putting his back to the door, prepared to keep it closed by any and all means necessary. He accidentally kicked a mop bucket, soaking his foot, as he moved around in the uncomfortably small space.

Yuri held his breath as Estelle's gentle footsteps moved towards his hiding place in a even beat. She was just outside of the broom closet, did she know he was in here? Was she going to wrestle the door open and demand an explanation? Who else was with her, she couldn't be alone, could she?

"Yuri...I know you're in there."

Shit.

"Why are you running from me Yuri?" Her voice was somewhat hurt, but he knew he must remain strong. If he looked at her, even once, it might be enough to break his mask. Only if she knew what he had done, then she would know it would just be best to leave him be.

"Estelle, what you doing here?" He forced himself to be blunt, gruff even, his voice sharp. He hoped she would be hurt and run away before he could see her, before she could see him again. Like earlier, when she had approached him out of the blue on deck.

He certainly had not been expecting that.

"Looking for answers. Like, why did you run from me, and why are you hiding from me now?" Estelle's reply was direct, something else unexpected, honestly, he had thought she would have taken a moment to think about it. Her next words shocked him, "Is it because of what happened with Flynn?"

Yuri's hand twitched as he stared into the abyss around him. Of course she would know about that. Next thing she would tell him is that she knew about the Elite's plot and that crazy blonde lady that had cursed him. Well that was highly unlikely but it would be awfully nice if it were true.

"Yuri, please, tell me what happened. Whats going on?" Estelle seemed even less hesitant this time, as if she had done this her entire life. He could feel the motion of her hands through the door as she gently touched it, followed by a soft whisper, "This isn't like you, this isn't like you at all."

She was hardly herself either.

"Estelle," The swordsman uttered her name quietly, as though if he said it too loudly he would break. He took a deep breath, briefly considering trying to tell her everything, from his first suspicions of the Elite all the way to when he had killed Suingam. The mere thought of it had him doubled over, coughing roughly and painfully.

"Yuri!" She sounded worried.

"...I can't..." He muttered hoarsely, narrowing his dark eyes and glaring at where he knew his hand was. Although he could not see it, he could feel the droplets of blood that coated his palm. He fisted his hand, and leaned his head back against the door, slightly dizzy.

"Yuri...are you alright...?" She was worried.

"I...just can't." He repeated, more for himself than her, trying to drill it into his mind that this time, he was utterly alone. This time, he couldn't rely on others to share the burden with him.

"Are you ashamed?"

Honestly? A little.

"Um, Yuri..." Ahhh, there was the Estelle he knew. Yuri relaxed slightly, his eyes finally adjusting to the lack of light in the broom closet. He could hear her again, once again surprising him. "Does this have anything to do with what you and Flynn hid from me in Zaphias?"

Yuri flinched.

Man, she was good.

"And don't try to say something like, 'What are you talking about'." The pink haired girl sighed from the other side of the door, astonishing him again with her bold and serious words. "I overheard you while I was sleeping by your beside when you were recovering from your ordeal in Bluebell meadow..."

Shit.

She knew a lot more than she was letting on, didn't she?

"I was drowsy...but I heard enough.." Estelle sighed, an action that Yuri unconsciously mimicked as he listened to her slight movements from the hallway. "Although I still don't know who it was that Flynn was worried had caught you...and I know whoever they were, didn't..."

Well, that was good.

"But, something happened to you.." She was concerned again. Yuri bit his bottom lip slightly as he tried to keep from bashing his own head in. He hated it when she worried about him...especially when there was a lot to worry about. "...you've changed Yuri..."

Not voluntarily.

Besides, she was hardly one to talk.

There was a few minutes of silence.

"I'll go now...I can see you don't feel like talking to me right now anyway..." That wasn't it, he couldn't tell her, couldn't even face her at this moment. He didn't know what he would've done if this broom closet hadn't been here...he would have been forced to face her then, and he didn't know if he could handle that yet, he leaned fully against the door as he heard Estelle walking away, but not before he could hear her warning... "Oh, and, by the way, Yuri, the door opens out into the hallway."

Shit.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Great, he just finished dealing with one and already felt crappy about it...now he had to deal with another one, this time with a superiority complex the size of Zaphias itself?<strong>_

Next Time: The Separation : Ravk : Charge

_A/N: Ok...I had some fun at the end. Now, I haz a question...what would YOU do in Yuri's situation? Lets say you were in the chapter "The Plot – Decision"?_


	14. The Separation : Ravk I : Charge

A/N: Yes! Another one done! Woot! Thank you all for your reviews, I greatly appreciate them! And here it goes, the next chappie!

* * *

><p>Flynn watched the sunset, dyed in yellows and oranges as the battleship Le Martine rocked gently on the waves of the calm sea. He sighed, leaning against the railing, savoring the cool, salty breeze that played with his golden locks and staring into the beautiful sky. The commandant reveled in the appealing natural display, relaxing completely and letting his mind adrift...<p>

Yuri was on that ship, and according to local testimonials, so was Lady Estellise. Unless there were other girls running around with shoulder length pink hair and a white, pink and yellow dress that somewhat resembled a flower... which could be possible, but, the blond was not taking any chances. If the tributes of the people back at Peis were true, Yuri was now an enemy of the empire.

The Elite might have been suspicious, but there hadn't been enough evidence to actually convict them. So why was Yuri carrying out this strange justice of his. Justice was an appropriate word, due to Suingam's highly illegal extracurricular activities, but still. The empire, the law, should be the ones to punish the unjust and the evil.

But one thing had Flynn worried.

The elite tended to act as a group, a whole, in general. If Suingam had been doing whatever the hell he had been doing, there was a pretty good chance that the rest of the elite were doing it too. But why? The only purpose of those people being inside of Peis seemed to be torture. It made absolutely no sense, what kind of mean could be achieved with the random torture of seemingly innocent persons...

Other than a sick gratification or fetish.

But really, he had not figured anything out from what he had been told, other than that there was a high possibility of Yuri being a murderer...and that the elite was probably up to no good. And that his suspicions of the elite were well earned. By the goddess this wasn't helping him any, in fact, it was only making it worse.

He looked up to see the sun dipping below the horizon, and felt the cooling effects of the oncoming night. In minutes, it was pitch dark save for the moon, stars, and their reflections on the water. Flynn sighed, once again relaxing as the wind softly played with his hair in clothes, luring him to sleep.

But he was hardly tired.

He felt Sodia's gentle hand on his shoulder, comforting him. She had calmed since earlier, since seeing Yuri on the ship. Flynn couldn't see her face now, but nonetheless, he knew that she was feeling much better. He reached up slowly, and grasped her hand gently in his, surprised by the smoothness. She had taken her gloves off. That was rare.

His thoughts and concerns turned back to his friend. However, while he was worried about Lady Estellise, he highly doubted that Yuri would hurt her. But of course, he had also highly doubted that Yuri would try and kill him. Of course, Yuri hadn't try to kill him, but, still, Yuri was dangerous.

And Flynn had a hunch of what he was planning to do next.

* * *

><p>A dull gray morning sky greeted them as they disembarked common wealth's ship, leading down to the foggy city. The port itself was silent as night, only a handful of people wandering its streets, a few hidden under dark blue and green umbrella's. It wasn't quite raining, instead, a slight sprinkle kept everyone darting for cover.<p>

There was a buzz about the ship as the passengers made their way slowly down the ramp, trying not to bump into one another, looking for friends and family. And even with the slight pandemonium, the town was still, somehow, quiet.

Rita glanced over at her silent companion as Estelle moved in step beside her, completely lost in her own thoughts. Estelle still had not told the mage of what had transpired between her and the swordsman, and it was bugging her. Had there been something that had happened that she should know about? She was honestly surprised that Estelle did not have him now with her...

Rita sighed, reminding herself of what she had managed to get out of the boy back on the ship. She had not told Estelle about that either, and she did not see any reason to. Besides, maybe it hadn't been Yuri who'd done it, maybe he had just arrived in the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn't know anything else about that situation other than what the boy had told her.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait here for him?" Rita asked out of the blue, stopping in the middle of the street and crossing her arms over her chest. Seriously? Estelle had chased this idiot down all the way from Zaphias and then when she found him, she chased him down and then, bam, that's it? Rita had thought that this time Estelle was determined.

"Yeah." Estelle replied softly, turning to face her friend slowly, pushing some of her pink hair out of her green eyes. Some of their fellow passengers hurriedly shuffled past them as the rain began to worsen once again. Estelle sighed forlornly and continued, "Even if I did, that wouldn't help anything..."

Did Estelle know something she didn't?

"So what do you want to do now?" Rita inquired, pulling an umbrella out of her travel pack and opening it up before the two of them got soaking wet. Estelle darted underneath the umbrella pretty quickly as the rain changed rapidly from a drizzle to a downpour. This wasn't the weather she had been expecting...wait, never mind, it was Tolbyccia.

"I'm heading to Dahngrest," Estelle replied almost instantaneously. Rita blinked, surprised, what was Estelle up now? She could understand wanting to hunt down Yuri, but now, why to Dahngrest of all places? "...there's something I need to ask Judith about..."

"What?" The mage exclaimed, raising an eyebrow and frowning in confusion as her friend continued, walking ahead despite the rain. Why was Estelle is so much of a hurry anyway? Rita looked up to see Estelle standing a bit ahead, looking back at her, determination etched on her face.

"I'll explain on the way."

* * *

><p>"Move out of the way!"<p>

Yuri glanced over his shoulder, looking over at the slight crowd out near the warehouse. People were scrambling away in a hurry as a large man shouted over the bedlam of terrified people. Others on the street were watching the chaos unfold, a few of them whispering curiously. Beside him, Ryker and Repede watched in confusion.

"Whats going on?" The small, blond boy asked, looking up at the swordsman as Yuri watched the chaos attentively. Ryker looked down at Repede, who, mirroring his friend, was also keeping a close eye on the warehouse crowd.

Something caught the swordsman's eyes, and barely thinking, darted back down the stairs and down to the port. Repede glanced over at the boy, meeting his eyes. Ryker blinked, then, as if he understood what the dog was saying, he took off down the stairs after Yuri. Either that or he was scared Repede would eat him.

Meanwhile, Yuri fought his way through the crowd, and recognized nearly all of them. They had all disembarked the common wealth ship earlier this morning. He hadn't expected them to still be in town in the middle of the evening.

A little girl stood alone in the center of the bedlam, holding a small stuffed bear and crying out for her mother. The large man from earlier was behind her, yelling for everyone to clear away, waving his arms around carelessly, in a moment he would hit the child if he didn't stop. The girl turned around, her soft blue eyes widening in fear...

The swordsman grabbed the man's wrist in a vice like grip just moments before it hit the child that was now standing behind him, watching the moment in terror. There was a minute in which the large man stared at Yuri, and Yuri stared right back, unblinking, unmoving. After several moments of silence Yuri finally slowly released the man's wrist.

"Be careful swinging that thing around," Yuri smirked, stepping back as the other man eyed him quietly, a frown etched into his face. Yuri paid the other man little mind as he glanced over his shoulder at the little girl, continuing his previous statement, "You know, you could hurt somebody if you're not careful."

"That would be out of the realm of my responsibility, peasant." The man replied, his voice deep and rather respectful. Now that Yuri was this close to him and that the pandemonium had died down, he could get a better look at the guy.

The man was at least six foot and built like an ox. He would not want to get into a brawl with this guy depending on fists alone. The man had short dark brown hair, mustache, beard, heavy dark eyebrows above deep set brown eyes and highly tanned skin with several scars. Yuri was only slightly intimidated.

Behind the man and near the entrance of the warehouse sat a fancy carriage with a giant cursive R carved into the front. That had probably been the start of the riot earlier, somehow. At this point Yuri was thinking that this man was some sort of stage coach driver or something like that.

"Well then make it part of the 'realm of your responsibility' then." He shot back despite the feeling that he should really leave this alone and get on with his life, at least, what was left of it. And just because he was already ignoring his gut feelings for the day he decided to tack on, "It's just common mannerisms. Or do you not have the same manners as us peasants?"

The man's eye flickered over as Ryker and Repede made their way to the front of the crowd that had formed around the two of them. They were all extremely brave or extremely stupid. Perhaps they just wanted to watch a good fight. Actually, that was sounding pretty good right about now, to get his mind off things...probably not the greatest idea, but it still was sounding like the best idea.

"What is taking so long, Bathuur?" A voice hissed from the general direction of the carriage, redirecting everyone's attention to the carriage by the warehouse. Ryker whimpered and took a step back, prompting Repede to glance at him in confusion. "If those scum are still blocking the way, well, just run them over."

Yuri froze as panic bubbled in his chest. He knew that voice.

"But Sir Ravk..." Bathuur said, glancing over his shoulder slightly protesting.

There was movement at the carriage's curtains, and pale skin peeked through, followed by yellow snake like eyes that swept over the crowd, lingering on the swordsman, the little girl, and Ryker. A gloved hand reached out from the curtains and beckoned the swordsman.

"You there, you brave young man," The council elite said with a wry smirk, picking out Yuri from the crowd as the crowd began to whisper among themselves. Ravk smile widened, gesturing towards himself as he added, "why don't you join me for a ride?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline, Sir." Yuri forced out with mock politeness. Of course it would be just his luck to run into another one of the Elite immediately after beheading another one. Of course, it was also just his luck to run into Estelle after having dealt with Suingam. This was not going to be his week. At all.

"No, I insist." The blonde man replied, half laughing, motioning freely with his hand as if he was inviting a friend to tea. He glanced over at the children again, and in an ill attempt to hide a poorly concealed scowl, he continued with a twisted smile, "And bring your companions, its not safe for children and pets to wander alone."

How did he know about Repede and Ryker?

"I'm sorry sir, but we really must be going." Yuri repeated, this time more irritated than anything as he made a move to move away, backing into Bathuur's hard body. Out of the corner of his eye he could see knights approaching the children and Repede. This was a bad set up, he couldn't start a serious fight in the middle of this crowd.

"I insist, Mr. Lowell."

* * *

><p>What the hell had he got himself into?<p>

Yuri glared at the council elite member as the older, blond man busied himself among his paperwork at the old maple desk before him. He had no idea where he was, and little idea how he had got here. The gentle cyan walls with the dark wood tones did little to calm him, much like the curtain covered window behind Ravk himself.

"Where are my companions?" He asked icily, paying little mind to the situation around him. He could hear one of Ravk's special knights at the door, eying him case he did something that was deemed out of order. He had no idea of what was going to happen to him now, for all he knew he might be killed, or perhaps detained until further notice.

"Don't worry about them." The elite replied, slicking back his blond hair with his right hand and he pulled out his chair from under his desk with his left. His yellow snake like eyes drifted lazily over the swordsman as he sat down in his chair and folded his hands in front of him on the desk. "At this point you should be worrying about yourself."

"Funny, that's what I was going to tell you." Yuri shot back. His comment earned him a sword held to his throat from behind. Ravk waved at the vicious knight, as so to tell him to back away. Yuri could tell that Ravk wasn't particularly worried about his _guest's _lack of respect towards him, he probably did not care all that much at the moment...

"You got spunk..." The man smirked evilly, leaning back in his chair, nearly hitting the curtains and windows behind him. Yuri could hear the knight behind him moving back to the door. Ravk's smirk widened as he uttered the words that Yuri was dreading."...but not only that, you'd have to have guts in order to kill one of the elite."

"What are you talking about?" He countered immediately, wondering how the hell Ravk could know. The only ones who should know would be him, Ryker, and Repede, perhaps some of the prisoners from that place who were smart enough to figure it out... But still, how the hell did he know? Even with those prisoners there, there should be no way for this man to know!

"Don't try to lie to me. I know all about what you did to Suingam, thanks to this guy." Ravk motioned to the back of the room, prompting Yuri to look over his shoulder. Near the knight by the door, there stood a man hiding in the back corner, with slicked back blonde hair, brown eyes and a cowardly countenance. "He saw you behead Suingam."

The room fell silent.

What the hell should he do now? Ravk knew, which meant that all of the remaining elite probably knew. If he killed Ravk now, the empire would surely know it was he who had done it. So, was he here to die? Was Ravk planning to have him killed? But, he couldn't die, not yet, he had to stop the elite's plot. He was the only one who knew, the only one who could do anything...

Yes...that was right...

"Get that look off of your face," The elite sighed, dismissively waving his hand once again, surprising Yuri. The swordsman watched him warily as the snake eyed man started touching his fingertips together menacingly, "I'm not _planning_ to kill you."

"Then _what_ are you planning?" Yuri muttered loudly, shifting uncomfortably on the bench he was seated on. He much didn't care for this set up, with two enemies to his back and one just before him. Not to mention the fact he did not have his weapons or his supplies on him, and the Garm Fang could only do so much damage...

"You killing Suingam was a highly profitable for me," Ravk continued causally, as if he were discussing the weather with an old friend as he leaned in to his desk, a dark and ominous shadow cast over his face, "And you're strong., you'd have to be to kill Suingam. So, why don't you work for me?"

"Excuse me?" Yuri asked, taken aback. Whatever he had been expecting Ravk to say, this certainly hadn't been it. Was this man crazy? He knew that the swordsman had killed one of the other Elite, and instead of doing what any sane person would do, he tries to hire him? Come on, what the hell was he playing at?

"You'd get a decent wage," Ravk continued, ignoring Yuri's surprised question and looking rather business-like, like he were at briefing discussing a business plan. Well, in a sense he sort of was... "much better than anything you'd ever get for any guild job."

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Ravk said, leaning back once again and slowly raising to his feet, "You know what happens to a person who witnesses a murder right? Usually, that person is killed by the murderer. In the case he isn't, he flees the scene of the crime and tells the police, who catch the murderer and carry out the death sentence..."

Yuri had a feeling he knew where Ravk was going with this.

"In this case, I am the police, he's," Ravk continued, pointing to the cowardly man in the back corner before turning to Yuri. Oh yeah, Yuri definitely knew where this man was taking the conversation, "is the witness... and you, Mr. Lowell, are the murderer..."

"What was that about you not planning to kill me again?" Yuri questioned with a raised eyebrow. Besides, he had to get out of here, only the goddess knew what had happened to Repede, Ryker, and that poor girl who had accidentally got dragged into this...

Besides, there was still that plot, still that curse.

And one of the keys to his freedom had all but just offered himself upon a silver platter.

* * *

><p>The small cell was hardly comforting, barely wide enough to even fit two children, cold steel pressed to their backs and hard concrete chafing their ankles. The clean, almost chlorine like smell was overwhelming, making him rather dizzy in the small holding cell. Ryker sighed, leaning back a little and readjusting his position.<p>

Honestly, he never thought he'd be trapped in one of these cages again. Although he preferred them to the mini cells at Suingam's, at least here the air was cleaner, warmer and there wasn't the constant overwhelming odors of decay. But the chlorinated stench here in this warm room was making him ill.

He hadn't had to deal with this particular set up in while. Just less than a week ago he would have been paralyzed with fear at the mere thought of coming here. He was scared, but at the same time there was this strange calm that had settled, and he was able to clearly think. To see and observe everything here.

He could hear the guard outside the cell, the thudding of his boots as he walked up to the cell and then the gradual fade as he moved away. He could see the three small engraved letters on the small door on the cage, although he couldn't read them. He could feel his heart beating in chest, bringing some sort of invigorating life to him for every moment he sat there. He could taste the chlorine in the air and the water vapor on his tongue as he breathed almost as well as he could smell the warm air and the chlorine.

The boy rather hoped that Yuri was okay, he had no idea what the heck Ravk would want to speak to him about. Maybe Ravk wanted to kill him, but Ryker figured Yuri would be okay. After all, the swordsman had managed to beat Suingam. As for the doggy, well, he hadn't seen the doggy since the port, he assumed that the doggy had just blended into the crowd and had managed to escape.

And this girl...

Ryker took a good look at her as she sat just beside him, curled up and hunched over. He could see her red braids dangling over her shoulders and beside her knees. She moved slightly, tearing a hole in her dirty blue dress. She looked like she was crying.

"Are you crying?" Ryker asked curiously, trying to turn to look at her, forgetting the confines of the cage. Instead, he opted to simply look at her by very easily turning his head slightly. The girl was definitely crying.

"No!" She muttered defensively, curling herself into a tighter ball, bringing her elbows up as so to block him out, or to hide from him and everybody else, he wasn't sure. But he knew that hiding and sitting there in fear wasn't going to get them anywhere. They couldn't just sit there and hope they'd be saved...well, he was thinking these things but he knew that the actual carrying it out would be the difficult part.

"You sure look like you're crying." He whispered, moving his gaze back to the hallway, perhaps to allow her to recuperate. He didn't know much about her, but he was slightly worried about her, he knew what it was like to be sad, and that was never a good feeling.

The girl did not reply to him, instead she started visibly trembling and calling for her mother. Ryker glanced over to her again, and shifted himself slightly so that he could place his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Ryker sighed, before speaking up quietly as so to avoid detection, "Don't worry, we'll get out of here."

"And how do you know that?" The girl shot back testily, quickly lifting her head out of her crossed arms and glaring at him, her eyes rather fiery. Her eyes were blue, sort of like the water that he had seen during the voyage over the ocean. He liked her blue eyes, therefore, he reasoned, he liked her.

"I don't." He shrugged, breaking his statement off when he heard the guard's footsteps approaching. Ryker sighed and leaned back into the bars, looking lazily outside the cell, observing the walls rather idly as the guard stopped by the cage and glanced in. Ryker felt a prickle of fear as he caught a glimpse of the man's leering face before he ambled off once more. Only when he was sure that the guard was gone did he shift his gaze back to the girl.

"Then why would you say that?" The girl hissed angrily, her lips pulled back in a scowl. Ryker was a little surprised, wasn't she just crying a moment ago? Well, as log as she wasn't crying, he figured it was okay, anything was better than crying.

"Because I want to get out here," The blonde boy replied with a shrug, peeking over his shoulder with some difficulty to make sure no one was watching, or listening in, before turning back to the girl to finish his statement, "so I'm going to try."

"It won't work," She huffed, her face still puffy and red from her earlier tears, trying to cross her arms, but failing due to the limited space. Slightly annoyed, she glared at him from the corner of her eye, finishing her earlier comment "And if they catch you, you'll get in trouble."

"Maybe...but I want to try..." As much as he was scared, so scared that he could just collapse into a puddle of fear, he knew he might as well try. If he didn't like this place he might as well try to get away, right? But he couldn't just leave this girl here... "whats your name again?"

She looked surprised that he had asked. The girl turned towards him completely, moving some of her flame red hair out of her eyes. After a few seconds of eying him suspiciously, she replied. "...I'm Sennett."

"I'm Ryker." The blond smiled, before letting continuing determinedly "Now, lets try to get out of here."

* * *

><p>He certainly had not been in a cell for a while. Yet, it didn't make the experience any more pleasurable in any way. The cool steel against his back, the cool concrete beneath him, and the ringing sensation in his head, from where they had bludgeoned him over the head with a club. There was also a nice bump up there, a he assumed there had to be a cut from the amount of blood that soaked his hair and dribbled down the side of his face.<p>

Yuri was honestly surprised that they didn't just kill him after he refused to work for the council elite member, considering he had killed Suingam and could very well kill Ravk too. Maybe they were underestimating him, which was fine, he couldn't wait to see the expressions on their faces when he showed up at the door. Or perhaps they were simply planning to kill him off later.

But what was he going to do now? He doubted that they were going to let him go, and he very well doubted that there were many opportunities to escape from this little steel cage that they had thrown him in. This surely wasn't anything like in Zaphias, where Raven had let him out, or in Helliord, where Estelle and Ioder had pardoned him, or even Dahngrest where Whitehorse had let him go...

Not to mention that he had lost track of Ryker, Repede, and that poor girl who had accidentally been dragged into this mess. Frankly, he couldn't imagine what her poor parents were going through right now to find her or how worried they must be. He had to get out and get her back to her parents in Torim Harbor.

And Ryker... The boy had become his responsibility the moment he had decided to save him from Suingam, and the swordsman had promised both that child and himself that he would get him to Dahngrest in mint condition. Then, the boy could finally freely decide for himself how he wanted to live his life.

But first, something would have to be done about the Elite, more specifically for his current situation, Ravk. Ryker had mentioned being here before he was sent to Suingam, and that all of the elite had these lacrime producing capabilities...which could only mean, somewhere in this building, there had to be several starving prisoners with the strange gems on their bodies.

He had to do something, he knew that as he paced back and forth in the tiny allotted room given to him inside the actual cell. Yes, he was weaponless, and in a cell, with no idea how the hell he was going to get out said cell and actually do anything except think about how he wanted to help...wait, actually he did...

Yuri stopped pacing for a moment as a plan hatched itself in his mind, a risky plan that very well might not work, but was unquestionably worth a try. Hearing the distinct jingle of keys and the thudding of a guard's boots, he figured he should probably hurry.

Quickly, the swordsman reached back behind his back and started to fumble his belt, wrestling with the cloth as it slipped through his fingers. After a few moments, he finally managed to slip the brown and yellow belt off. Holding the belt in his hand, he started pulling at his blastia, taking a few seconds to pull off his blastia charm. He looked up, glancing down the hallway to make sure that the guard wasn't there before he dropped the bracelet at his feet.

At that moment the guard rounded the corner, dutifully carrying a sword and shield. He was a knight, well built and decorated in Ravk's signature blue and purple. Yuri's eyes drifted down to the man's waist, where the silver keys glinted and chimed every time the man took a step forward. Yuri's current mission? Get those keys.

Here goes nothing.

Yuri waited until the knight was passing by his cell, then lightly kicked the accessory at his feet, sending it between the bars to outside the cell, where it clinked across the floor. The noise was like shots fired during service. Every time the bracelet hit the floor as it bounced out to the center of the hall, he prayed that this crazy plan would succeed.

The knight went on the defensive immediately, warily observing the hallway for the source of the clinking noise. The guard turned towards Yuri and looked at him distrustfully, before slowly moving again to look the other way. Eventually, the guard had his back to the swordsman.

Bad idea.

Yuri thrust his arms through the bars of his cell, belt in hand. He then viciously wrapped the belt around the guard's neck in one fell swoop, pulled the belt, and the guard himself, back towards the cell, twisted the belt and pulled as hard as he could from either end.

The knight struggled, arching backwards reaching in vain for his neck to try and rip the belt away so he could breathe. But already, his hands were getting shaky and white as he flailed around in a futile effort for his life. However, his attacker was too strong, and after a minute there was a sickening snap as the victim fell limp.

Breathing heavily through his nose, Yuri released his belt, dropping the victim onto the floor as he quickly tied his belt back on. He then fell to his knees, and reached through the steel bars for the knight's belt, where the keys were. After a few minutes, he triumphantly held up the silver key and turned his attention to the door.

Standing up and once again reaching outside the cell, he fumbled with the keys in his hand, before jamming what he hoped to be the right key in the lock and twisted it every-which way. Wrong key, he switched to the other one, cramming it into the keyhole and prayed that it would work. After a a couple of seconds of rotating the key, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

Yuri stepped outside the cell, making sure to pull the keys out of the lock and pocket them, before hurrying over to the guard to check his pulse. After few moments of holding his fingertips to the knight's wrist, the swordsman preceded to remove the man's sword from him. He wouldn't be needing it anymore.

He glanced down either side of the hallway, everything looking the same as far as the eye could see. He swooped down and plucked his blastia up off the floor and hastily slipped it back on his wrist, then took off down the hallway in a mad rush. It was time for him to do something, what that something was, he still wasn't sure.

All he knew is that he needed a plan.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I LOVED writing this chapter, although, writing wise, I could have used more synonyms for certain words. ^^' whoops. Anyway, please, tell me what you thought. :)_

**"I would rather die trying than die not having tried at all!"**

**"Oh? How interesting, that mark on your chest, that is."**

**"What sort of monster are you?"**

Next Time: The Separation: Ravk II: Surge


	15. The Separation : Ravk II : Surge

A/N: Hiii! :D I know this might not be remembered by the end of the chapter, but, I wanted to throw this out there; according to my plotline/schedule, we're now 1/4th through the story! :O This is major for me! So, please enjoy!

* * *

><p>Igiul shuddered as his group passed through the automatic doorway and into the warmer hallway. Why had he sighed up to the knights again? For money, status, fame? Perhaps to bring some light to his hometown? He didn't remember anymore past the disturbing truth behind the empire's greatest.<p>

He had seen things, much worse than any war, within his own home territory during a time of peace. He had thought with Flynn Scifo being stated as the new commandant, that things would change. But they hadn't, in all actuality, things had only seem to have worsened. It was to the point that Igiul had no idea what to believe.

"Ryker! Are you alright? Ryker!"

He heard one of the prisoners, a little girl, calling out to another, but continued on anyway. This was a fairly common occurrence, it didn't bother him anymore. These people would die, just like everyone else, albeit it be a more painful and saddening way. But, he reasoned, these people were suffering for the good of everyone else in the empire, so, it was less evil.

"You're coming with us." His commanding officer muttered, approaching the cell where a little red headed girl cried over the motionless body of a blond little boy. The boy was probably dead, or dying, like most of the children here. By tomorrow his corpse would be added to the pile in the incinerator, and the girl would forget about him in a few months time.

"But something's wrong with him! Please help!" She was really insistent, and Igiul felt a twinge of pity for her, the poor child still hadn't figured this place out? It would be a hard lesson for her then, one that was sure to be repeated several times while she lived out the remainder of her life in the giant slaughterhouse.

"Why would we help him you little rat?" The guard to his right, Nolat sneered down to the girl as she grasped the bars of her cell, tears streaming down her dirty face. This little girl seemed suddenly familiar, like he had seen her visage before, perhaps in passing. But when, and where? He hadn't been anywhere in almost seven years now...

"You are knights, you are supposed to help people!" The girl protested, and Igiul laughed a little to himself. He had once been that naive, it was sort of sad to see such a small child so confused by the ways of the world. A child like this wouldn't last long in the world, much less in this place with the other prisoners.

"Don't make us laugh!" Another officer, Oiram chortled as he dug through his pockets to find the key ring so that he might open the door and escort the prisoner to the proper location. The girl glanced back to the boy, her bottom lip trembling. For a moment, the boy also seemed vaguely familiar... but more like something he was likely to remember. The shorter squatter man continued trying to open the door as Igiul watched dispassionately, "We live to serve lord Ravk and that is all."

"But-" The little red head objected, backing away slightly as they shoved the key into the lock and went over to the unconscious, or dead, blond at her feet. How the hell had they fit two children in there? Much less two full sized adults like in most of the other cages? Before he would have thought it nigh impossible, now he viewed it only slight awe.

"Why are you arguing with a child?" Ogni, the head officer, smirked, from off to the side as Oiram wrestled with the door a little, finally getting it to swing open. Igiul's eyes drifting over his fellow guards while Oiram muttered under his breath about rusty locks as Ogni added on to his previous statement, "She's not smart enough to understand."

"Yes, true enough." Nolat agreed as he leaned down to enter the cage as so he wouldn't bump his head. Pushing his slight beer gut out of the way as so to be able fit in even so slightly so he could grab his target and creeping over to the child as she cowered in the corner next to the boy's corpse, he muttered under his breath, "Come on girlie..."

"But sir-" Igiul exclaimed suddenly, a memory returning vividly to him. But it wasn't about the girl, this time, it was the boy. There was something about that boy that had seemed familiar, but a lot of the prisoners, mainly the children, all looked alike after a bit, so it had been hard to tell... But now, he knew he knew who that boy was.

"What now?" Ogni seemed irritable now, and Igiul could understand why, usually grabbing prisoners took seconds, maybe a minute or two if the prisoner in question was feeling rowdy. This time was taking what seemed to be hours for one little girl. And it didn't help that they knew that Lord Ravk was a very impatient man.

"That boy is..." Igiul whispered into his commanding officer's ear, his heart beating a mile a minute as he hesitated. He didn't know why, but for a moment his conscience twinged slightly, reminding him that a careless word could destroy the child. For a whole moment, he felt the weight of that child's life. "...Ryker Maddex-Naranbaatar."

"Oh!" Ogni's mood lightened immediately, his posture declining slightly. That is, before his eyes drifted over to the boy's body, possibly corpse, laying motionless in the cage beside the struggling girl as Oiram paused to look at his commander. Ogni turned to them, clearing his throat and clearly issuing his orders, "Nolat, grab the boy. Oiram, escort the girl."

"Right away." Nolat and Oiram replied simultaneously, the two slightly chubby guards both turning to the cage. Oiram approached the terrified girl as she fearfully went as far back into the corner as could be allowed as so to protect herself from the oncoming assault.

Her efforts were in vain.

* * *

><p>The blonde elite lazily flipped through the huge stack of files on his desk, merely passing time. He should have been working on his paper work, but honestly, he was too excited. The feeling was buzzing in his chest and tingling up his spine, preventing him from fully concentrating on anything, much less a pile of boring paperwork that he should have had done months ago.<p>

Once again slicking back his hair just to move, Ravk leaned forward as his eye caught on to a bright red heading. One of Suingam's final telegrams before his untimely demise. Ravk smirked as he picked it up, skimming over the contents idly, before crumpling it up in his hand and throwing it away in the waste paper basket underneath his desk.

It wasn't important anymore, as Lowell had destroyed Peis anyway. As Ravk became somewhat engrossed in actual work, the shadows on his desk became longer as night quickly fell. Birds quieted down for the night as the insufferable frogs and bugs picked up where their feathered friends had left off. Night was never silent in Tolbyccia.

The two guards stationed at the door kept their eyes moving. One of them surveyed the giant window behind the council elite in case of attack while the other listened for footsteps outside the door in case there was a footstep off schedule. If there was such a thing, it could be an escaped prisoner, or a lazy officer. Neither would be tolerated here.

The stiff silence continued, expect for the uneven intervals of Ravk's pen scribbling down notes, signatures, or anything else that needed to be done. A few hours passed, interrupted only by the change of guards around ten o'clock and the shuffle of prisoners back to their cell after their examinations. It was a rather normal night.

Around eleven, Ravk sighed and leaned back, taking a moment to himself. Running this place had always been a constant task, and tonight was hardly any different. The papers, the contracts, the bribes, and the constant string of assassinations that had to be assigned so that they would be carried out was very much rather exhausting.

Speaking of assassinations, he thought with a wry smile, he had captured Lowell, who in himself, had been interesting enough. But if Lowell wasn't going to take up on Ravk's rather generous offer, he was nearly useless to him. The only thing that kept that boy alive was the curiosity of how a simple kid had slain one of the most powerful warriors in the history of the empire.

That aside, Ravk had also recaptured his vita lacrime, a subject he had sent to Suingam for collaborative testing. That had not really worked out, with Suingam getting his ass handed to him and his facility destroyed. It seemed that the money spent on shipping and handling on the subject had been completely wasted. Ah well, perhaps his comrade Elydor would be a better partner for this experiment.

And as for the girl...

A wicked smile blossomed across his thin, pale face as his snake like eyes slightly twinkled in excitement. He was about to really start thinking about the host when his eyes noticed another telegram, this time more recent and from a different comrade.

He picked up Sutsycrof's telegram with thinly veiled disdain, eyes skimming over the informal and disrespectful text. That man thought he could act and address everyone else however he saw fit, and it angered the short blond elite. Suingam had also been a culprit of the action, but, he was now dead. Ravk certainly wouldn't mind if that was also Sutsycrof's future.

Of course the man wanted to know about Suingam's death and if Ravk himself had any information to report to Amynorp. The blonde elite tore the telegram up and chucked it into the trash, like most telegrams he received. Mostly they were stupid things or things that Ravk felt no need to report. Like now, he felt no obligation or no reason to report Lowell.

Besides, Lowell was now contained and hardly a threat to anyone as he was. From the information that Ravk had gathered from Zaphias, no one knew where the boy had gone after visiting Lady Estellise and attacking the commandant, nearly killing him. Too bad the that hadn't killed him, it was rather inconvenient with Scifo alive. Ah, well, the commandant was too busy chasing down the princess anyway.

He still could hardly believe that that stupid girl had fled Zaphias, even had tried to give up her title and status! Especially right after they had made marriage arrangements for her! How irritating. He glanced over at the paper with the seal RPT and the the official stamp of Leimer family, of which the head of was Lady Estellise's approved fiance.

It looked like the shipment of the lacrime was going rather smoothly, all the major types congregating in one area. He doubted that that would last very long. He had recently shipped out a rather decent Distruttore type, and he had heard that Amynorp had created a good Magia type. But Elydor's Mezzo was the one everyone was wanting to take a look at...

The midnight bell rang, signifying to the council elite member that it was time. He yawned, setting down the paperwork and slowly pushing the chair out from underneath the desk. The man slowly stood to his full height, placing his hands on his desk in order to steady himself slightly, before swinging around the side of the furniture and plucking up a rather long pike.

It was an elaborate gold pike with a jagged cerulean design that wrapped around the pike like a vine all the way town to the tip of the silver blade. Ravk twirled it in his hand for a few moments, before sliding it into it's special sheath on his shoulder belt. He then turned to the guards and walked past them. They scrambled to get behind him in proper order as the elite walked out of his comfortable office and down the hallway.

It was time.

* * *

><p>A scream pierced the air.<p>

Blood was everywhere as the knight fell to the ground, moaning in pain as he grasped at the bleeding stump that used to be his leg as the detached appendage lay on the floor just a few feet away. The warm red liquid seeped through the knights fingers as he desperately tried to slow the bleeding, although part of him knew it was futile.

He could hear the footsteps of his attacker slowly moving towards him. The pain from the dismemberment nearly blinding him, he glanced upwards in fear at his attacker as he stood just before him, raising his weapon back for the kill. The knight knew his comrades would not arrive in time to save him, and part of him accepted his fate.

A single thrust through his throat finished him off relatively quickly as two of his fellow knights stopped in horror behind the assailant. They could only watch as the man pulled his blade from their companions throat, blood spurting into the air while the swordsman nonchalantly turned to them. They saw their fellow warrior's corpse on the floor.

Screaming in rage, the two knights who had dared to try and attack their aggressor raised their weapons in wrath as the fourth knight of the squad, a greenhorn, watched in terror from near the exit. The two knights closer to the corpse of their comrade glanced again at the body of their associate, who now lay in a puddle of his own blood on the concrete.

"Oh my god, he killed him!"

"You bastard!"

They froze when the swordsman turned his eyes to them, a promise of a swift death. The two men backed away slightly, thinking that perhaps that their assaulter perhaps was planning to kill them next. They weren't wrong about that.

The swordsman advanced quickly, already nearly in front of them. The guard on the left prepared to block the attack, thinking that maybe he could get a good shot at his attacker. However, the swordsman easily broke through the man's defense, then raised his sword up to the knight's throat and slit it.

The first knight doubled over, his eyes wide in pain as he dropped his weapon and brought his hands up to his throat as to maybe somehow heal the fatal wound. He swayed there for a moment, before he gurgled, blood dripping down from the side of his mouth, and crashed on down to the ground, dead.

The second knight watched in horror, barely able to tear his eyes away from his two dead comrades to face what he felt to be the eyes of death itself, and he knew in that in that moment that he was going to die. His assaulter had ducked, forcing the man to look down as the swordsman shoved his blade into the knight's chest at an upward angle.

The already dying man glanced at his killer's face for a moment, a little confused on what exactly had just happened. Then, the man's eyes glazed over and his body went lax as his murderer stepped back, tearing the blade out of his victim's bloody chest.

The final knight stood back, near the exit, his body trembling visibly as the swordsman cleanly yanked his blade out of the dead knight's chest. He knew it would only be a matter of time until that monster turned to him, while advancing slowly to draw out the overwhelming feeling of despair.

The scared man backed away, into the locked door behind him as the killer before him started moving in his direction, blood dripping rhythmically from his broadsword. The greenhorn glanced over his shoulder in terror after he realized that the door behind him wouldn't open. He had forgotten to unlock the door!

He thrust his hands into pockets, his shaking so bad he felt that should he actually find the key that he may not be able to hold it. Glancing over his shoulder, the newbie guard noticed the swordsman as he ambled slowly, ever nearing his location. He gulped, his throat dry as his fingers brushed a metal object in his pocket.

The key! He had found the key! He yanked it out of his pocket, the cool steel feeling great against his calloused and sweating palm as he turned to the door, showing the key into the lock with his quivering hands as the footsteps that spelled his doom came ever closer. He twisted the key roughly in every different way, panicking slightly when the door would not open.

His heart was being a mile a minute, sweat dripping down the side of his face while his hands shook as they key constantly slipped through his fingers. He couldn't think straight, the fear was bearing down on him too heavily, his breath was coming out labored as he kept moving the key in the lock in a hope that the door would open.

For a moment, he could have sworn that he had broke the key when he heard a loud crack and he felt as though the murderer had already killed him. But, then, the lock clicked, a sure sign of his survival. Feeling somewhat giddy, the novice pushed open the door joyously, and took a moment to peek over his shoulder to check for the attacker.

The murderer was right there, standing just behind him, his sword already raised above his head to attack. The knight just stood there, looking at the killer and unable to move, feeling absolutely nothing as he looked at the visage of the man who, in a moment, would kill him. Perhaps this was the feeling that happened when your world ended.

His eyes skimming over the swordsman's dark hair and clothing, the knight thought that perhaps this person wasn't alive himself, and was merely the reaper of death. But, then he saw the man's eyes and terror coursed throughout his body, and in what he knew to be his final moments, he shrieked so loudly that he thought everyone on Terca Lumireis could hear him.

"What sort of monster are you!"

* * *

><p>Monster?<p>

Perhaps he was.

He wasn't feeling anything at the moment, except for this strange sense of fulfillment every time he looked down at the sword in his hand, or the blood on his clothes. When ever he thought of the feeling of the blade easily slicing through skin and bone, blood pouring like a waterfall out of open wounds, coating every surface...

What was wrong with him?

This time wasn't anything like any of his previous fights, with Asalle he had felt nothing at all except for this extreme power, then, with Suingam his body was as if he had been doused in ice. But most of all that was missing was the morbid joy he had derived from killing and attacking his opponents.

And, unlike either of those times, he remembered everything clearly. Before, it had been like seeing things through a filter in his memories. Hell, he barely had any memories from killing Suingam in the first place, that was all majorly blurry. He couldn't even recall most of what had happened it was so foggy.

Perhaps the curse was beginning to worsen in effect? Was he not killing them fast enough for that woman's sick pleasure? Whatever it was, he knew that coughing up blood for no physically evident reason was not a good thing. He had already ruled out any lasting injuries from his previous physically draining and destructive fights.

Yeah, he still had a bit of recovering to do before his body would be in tip top shape again and all of his injuries from his brawls with Savage Wolf and Suingam would be healed. But, none of his remaining lesions were big enough anymore to cause that sort of damage.

Yuri shrugged to himself and continued down the abandoned hallway, playing with the bloodied bronze key in his left hand. He could still hear the screams, and it bothered him slightly. With that in mind, he grasped it tightly in his hand, before sliding it into his side pocket. It was getting louder in his head, more drawn out and morbid every moment...

He had to stop again.

Reaching out with his sword hand and placing it against the wall to support him as he doubled over slightly, clutching his head with his left hand as to placate the growing pains as his headache worsened. He could see it out of the corner of his eye, the steady dripping of the red liquid off the blade and onto the wall...

It made him sick.

The worse thing about it was that he couldn't figure out why. He had killed hundreds of people, none of them, except Ragou, had bothered him in even the slightest. He realized the weight of a life, but he didn't regret what he done. It was for the best, if hadn't killed those men, they would have killed him, or worse,some innocent person who couldn't defend themselves...

Yet he still felt sick, like he was going to throw up, but nothing would come out. His head was warm and sweat lingered on his brow as his breath came out in shallow gasps. Stopping wasn't helping him, it was only making his head spin faster. He needed to move, before he heaved again and found himself unconscious on the floor.

Grasping blindly as he stumbled along the wall, fighting the urge to fall over although he felt it might be easier to just give in, Yuri tried to clear his mind. It seemed as though it was on a constant repeat, showing the images of those few moments over and over again in his mind like a scratched record. Suddenly, the feeling under his fingers changed drastically from cool stone to smooth wood.

And the next thing he knew, his balance was terribly off as the wood gave way, and he was falling. Surprised, he threw out his arms at awkward angles, hoping to catch his fall and prevent unnecessary pain. However, he had directed his fall to the wrong angle and he hit the ground hard.

He cursed under his breath, as he rolled over to his side. There was going to be a bruise there later, he just knew it. The swordsman pulled himself up into a half-seated position on the floor, and not paying any attention, reached for something that might help him up. His hand brushed over something sharp.

"Ahh!" He yelped, his voice somewhat hoarse, yanking his hand back to his body impulsively and directing his line of sight to his hand. It was a little blurry, but he could see a thin slice that was already starting to bleed across his palm. What exactly had he tried to grab, anyway?

He blinked once, redirecting his gaze to the room around him. He was in a grungy concrete room, on a filthy floor, surrounded by what must have been hundreds of weapons. Pikes, axes, bows, whips, swords, shields, there was a little bit of everything there, piled upon a few tables that appeared to have been simply thrown into the room.

Barely in his peripheral vision, he saw a flash of orange and yellow and faced the direction from which it came. Flamberge and his travel pack sat, barely obscured by other weapons that looked to have been haphazardly tossed on them.

Yuri reached out over to the table to his left, using it as a secure aid to help steady himself and pull himself to his feet. Still a little shaky standing up, the swordsman moved slowly over to his stuff. He pushed the other weapons aside and threw the bloodied one in his hand into the chaotic pile in the room.

He tied the small travel pack to his waist and checked it for its contents, unsurprised to find it had been completely cleared out. Ahhh, well, he would have to look around for spare gels later. The swordsman leaned down, plucking up Flamberge from its strange resting place against a display case for spears.

It felt nice to be holding one of his swords again. Yuri knew this sword, he understood how to use it, the weight, the thickness and the general feel of it in battle. He knew that this was the sword he had slain Suingam with, the sword he had fought Asalle with.

There was someone behind him.

Immediately, Yuri spun on his heel, snatching Flamberge from its sheath as to block a well aimed attack. The swordsman grunted, whoever had just attacked him was rather strong, and Yuri knew that had he hesitated to block that attack, he'd be missing his right arm.

He barely threw his attacker off of him. Trying to take a good look, he soon saw that he wouldn't be able to tell much about this man. His attacker was taller than he was, slightly more broad shouldered, and clothed in black from head to toe.

There was nothing really distinguishing about this man, well, if he was a man, that was. He could simply be a very masculine she, but Yuri sort of doubted that that was the case. The only thing he knew was that this person had broader shoulders than he, was taller than he, and clothed in all black.

He prepared to attack the man before him, calculating his attackers next move as to to avoid an injury. Yuri moved forward for the attack, planning on slicing open the man in black's stomach and ending the fight before it got too out of hand.

His attack flew towards the man's stomach as Yuri stepped out of his routine footwork, a move that usually worked on his opponents. However, somehow, Yuri didn't understand how, the man viciously parried Yuri's well aimed attack. Surprised, Yuri was sent stumbling back a little, trying to regain his footing before he was attacked again.

There was a slight twinge of excitement as Yuri realized with glee that this fight he was in was probably going to be quite the challenge. He hadn't had a challenge in a while, the last time he had actually had a challenge in a fight was with Suingam, and that had been not quite a week ago.

"Dragon Swarm!" He yelled, moving forward again and twisting his body continuously, exchanging his sword between his hands as he alternated his slices with his kicks. He felt a couple of the kicks and maybe one of the slices actually land on the man though. So, when he had regained his stance again, he threw back his arm and shoulder before cutting at the man before him, "Azure edge!"

The man in black evaded the attack, dropping to his knees and advancing towards him quickly. Yuri watched with a sense of what could almost be anticipation, not sure of what his opponent was planning next. For a moment there, he felt as though he had lost complete track of his enemy, until suddenly there was a large black mass in front of him, trying to slice him in half.

The swordsman managed to stop the attack from slicing him open, and remembered to get a closer look at his attackers weapon. It was a silver steel sword with a purple vine design wrapped around it, ending just before the tip. Originally, he had planned on throwing the man back, but soon realized that that simply wasn't going to happen.

He opted instead to back away, just enough for him to ready his weapon. Yuri wasn't sure which attack plan he was going with until he noticed the man in black darting towards him. So, he would be forced to stop him, eh? Yuri stuck his arm out straight, sword in hand and started to rotate the weapon, "Shining fang!"

"Oh? How interesting, that mark on your chest, that is."

Huh?

That had been the first thing his attacker had said thus far. It seemed it was distraction enough for the man in black to completely tear through Yuri's attack, knocking it over to the side and breaking through the swordsman's guard at the same time. Yuri sputtered, watching as his opponent spun, slamming his pommel into the swordsman's chest.

Yuri doubled over, coughing in pain as the man in black then slammed the flat side of his blade against his chest, sending the dark haired youth flying back to the hard floor, knocking over two of the display cases, displacing and destroying some of the old weapons in the room.

Yuri groaned, feeling a spear slightly embedded in his side, having landed on it after those last blows. He would certainly be feeling those for a while. Dammit, where the hall had Flamberge gone? He had it in his hand just minutes ago. Yuri turned onto his back, trying to pull himself up, just to look up at the tip of a silver sword with purple vines waver at his throat.

Shit.

* * *

><p>Sennett seemed fine as the two semi-incompetent guards treated her rather roughly. And honestly, he felt a little bad, making her play along with his little ploy. But at least they were out of their little tiny cage and on their way. To where? He had no idea as of yet. But anywhere was better than that little cage.<p>

Honestly, he was rather astonished that she was playing along with his little plan, especially after he had said something so cheesy. Perhaps she had taken pity on him because he had been so honest, not many people, children or adults would declare something like "I would rather die trying than die not having tried at all!" after being in their situation.

He felt himself being roughhoused slightly again and bit his tongue to keep from crying out in pain as he was accidentally smacked against the wall. It hurt, but not nearly as badly as some of the things he had been exposed to in his short life. He figured he could live with a bruise without worrying about it too much.

They were passing the caged section of this place, whatever Ravk called it. He could hear the screams and the moans of the prisoners there, some of them backing away from the bars as they passed by. He couldn't blame them in the slightest. That could eventually be him, but he wasn't going to go down easy.

What happened next though? He realized that they would eventually realize that he was simply playing dead and then what? He hadn't thought that far ahead yet, as his mind was still preoccupied with this part. Ravk's room was right up ahead, he smell it, and Ryker knew that the true test of courage was swiftly approaching.

* * *

><p>AN: Woohoo! I'm sorry bout the last 5th of the chapter...I felt pretty crappy when I wrote it. No excuse I know, but I apologize anyway. Please tell me what you thought...and gimme some water!

**_"Clever little shit aint he?"_**

**_"What are you?"_**

**_"I'm going to kill them...I'll kill them all."_**

Next Time: The Separation: Ravk III: Shock


	16. The Separation : Ravk III : Shock

A/N: Don't know what to say here...uh, please enjoy. ^^

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><p>Was he going to die?<p>

Yuri couldn't tell just by looking at his opponent, as the man had his face covered. There was no sense of malice, hate, or even joy in the air. If anything, there seemed to be a sense of conflict emanating from the man in the black clothing. It was as if he wasn't sure what to do in this moment, whether or not to kill the swordsman.

However, the man's sword seemed to tell a different story. Yuri felt as if the weapon was slowly slicing deeper and deeper into his skin for every moment he sat there, still and unmoving. His heartbeat thumping loudly in his chest, it too betraying his emotions. He kept telling himself that he was not afraid, but he knew the truth.

He was scared.

The swordsman got a good look at the man who had so easily beat him. Black corcorans made of leather, obsidian leggings of jean, a midnight hued cotton tunic, and a black hood made of silk that hid his face from view. He reminded Yuri of the grim reaper, staring him down with a weapon to his throat.

He was going to die.

No.

He refused to die.

He still had to finish what he had started.

The paralyzing fear that had held him place warped itself into something entirely different, changing into fire that raced through his veins. He welcomed this feeling with open arms, this feeling that he knew in the deepest parts of his soul, was slowly destroying him. But he didn't linger on it long, it was a useless thought.

Surprising both the man in front of him and himself, Yuri reached out in front of him, snatching the blade that hovered at his throat with his bare hand. He tightened up his grip, paying no mind to the blood that freely flowed down his arm, and then ripped the blade away from his neck, tossing both it and its owner off balance.

He dropped onto the floor, not feeling even the cold stone beneath him as he rolled away from his enemy and towards where Flamberge lay on the ground, tossed aside from the attack earlier. He snatched up his weapon again, facing his opponent with a grin of insane joy, he could feel his muscles twitching under his skin.

There was the fire in his veins, in his blood that was racing through his body. The red film was tinting his vision again, the feeling of power surging through his body. He felt as though he could crush and destroy anything. And just the thought alone made him giddy, a hoarse laugh broken into several breaths escaped him.

He needed to kill this man before he himself was killed. There was no way he was going to die just yet, there was still too much riding on him, but even those thoughts were fleeting. Twitching as the insatiable appetite rose within him, Yuri's smile widened to insanity. Blood, he needed to see blood.

A long laugh that reeked of insanity left him as he tossed back his head and clutched Flamberge tightly in his grip. The man before him stood back, watching with just the slightest aura of confusion. Yuri faced him again as the laugh died down, there was a feeling there an opening. Yuri charged.

He slashed horizontally, his sword arm moving so quickly that Flamberge appeared to become a flame instead of a sword. However, this didn't seem to faze the man at all, he simply cut vertically down, parrying the swordsman's movements. Yuri prepared to swing a good punch at his opponent, but the man flipped out of the way.

Without thinking, Yuri threw Flamberge from his right hand to his left as he spun on his heel, slashing at his opponent with reckless abandon. The man in black blocked that one too, then, while Yuri was still in the middle of his movement to attack, slipped under the swordsman's guard and aimed another attack towards at his midsection.

The pommel dug itself into the man's skin, but yet the obsidian haired youth did not react. He could barely even feel it, but he knew now where his opponent was. Yuri glanced down to meet the eyes of his attacker, before bringing down Flamberge in a frenzied offensive that would have killed just about anyone else.

But somehow the man again manged to dodge all the assaults, pulling the rounded pommel of his blade away from Yuri's midsection to help him block the attacks. He blocked every attack easily, then, decided to throw away his blade. Yuri didn't quite understand what his opponent was thinking, but if his opponent really wanted to die that badly, who was he to stop him?

Yuri sliced downwards toward the man, a prickle of glee raging through his veins at the thought of seeing blood, but at the same time there was another faint feeling. A part of him fought against this action he was taking, declaring it disgusting to attack an enemy without a weapon. But that feeling was easily forgotten as the desire for blood overwhelmed him.

However, the man in black seemed to have no intention of dying and threw up his arms in front of his just as the blade descended upon him. For a minute there, the world seemed to freeze as the man snatched Flamberge right out of the air while it was still in movement. In a fearsome display of strength, the man in black spun around and slammed Yuri, weapon and all against the concrete wall.

The pain was nothing, he didn't even feel it as he fell to the ground, or even as he managed to pick himself back up, but the thing that bothered him the most was a single moment of a thought. He was going to lose this battle, already, his body was corroding, getting harder to control the longer he remained in this state.

Yet, his enemy appeared to be in perfect condition.

"Stop it. I no longer have any intention of fighting you anymore." The words like a slap in the face to the swordsman as his enemy once again had the blade pointed at his throat. He had lost, even then to this man. How? He had though that the power that the mark on his chest had granted him had made him invincible. "There, down and to the right is a brass door, behind it, you'll find Ravk."

"Who are you?" Yuri snarled to his opponent as the red film before his eyes faded away, still in a state of disbelief that he had been beaten. There were so many other questions, but, they seemed to have minor importance compared to the one he had just asked.

"Eat these, they're not poisoned," The man in black didn't answer his question right away, instead tossing a few gels onto the swordsman's lap and sheathing his sword at his waist. There wasn't any fear in this man as he openly showed his back to the obsidian haired swordsman who lay against the wall, defeated. "You may call me Otets"

Yuri tried to get a good look at the man he had fought as he turned away from the injured swordsman who lay against the wall. Yuri had lost sight of him for a moment, when he looked over his shoulder and down the hall where the man should have been, he was slightly shocked to see no one there.

* * *

><p>"Clever little shit ain't he?"<p>

Ryker groaned as the large man's strong and calloused hands twisted his arms behind his back. He was such a coward, throwing away an opportunity like the one he had had in that one moment due to his fear. He honestly had not expected to be caught. He had thought that he would be able to possess the courage to pull it off.

But he had been wrong, he was nothing more than a useless coward in the face of his nightmares. And because of that, only the goddess knew what had happened to Sennett... He hoped she was alright and hadn't suffered any due to his idealistic incompetence. If she had been killed, he hoped it had been swift and painless...

The boy was being dangled up in the air by a massive knight three times his size, as if he was merely an item for show and tell to Ravk. The small blonde boy felt another trickle of blood make its way out of his mouth and down his cheek. At this moment, he was surprised he was still alive.

The room around him was illuminated in a light blue from the light emitted from large tubular glass structures that was placed around the room in a grid-like pattern. Inside the glass tubes were strange coiled wires that wrapped themselves around half human, half monstrous creatures that were missing large portions of their chests.

Ravk and his guards were just in front of him, conversing with these other men, probably from a guild, but not one that the boy recognized. They were definitely not Savage Wolf, they appeared too civilized and business-like for such. They all wore this strange red and yellow banner around their necks with decorative letters that Ryker couldn't understand.

He couldn't see them all that well, his vision and hearing were both blurry, and the blood from his head wound kept getting in his eyes. The boy knew that the men were talking about something really important, but he could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation, none of it particularly relevant or world shattering.

Ravk was laughing and saying something to one of the men that the boy didn't recognize, looking dementedly thrilled with whatever news he was giving and receiving. The men he spoke to appeared as if they had exchanged glances at one another, before replying to Ravk's words. The blonde elite laughed in joy.

That bastard...how dare he laugh so freely after everything he'd done!

The men and the guilds were saying their farewells now, or at least that's what the boy gathered from the way that the men carried themselves as they turned away and headed towards the doors. Ryker watched them all, trying to condemn them to his memory, although part of him felt that there was no escape from this place, nothing afterward. There would be no point in his memorization of the men then if he was merely sentenced to rot in this place with no hope of escape.

The door to the far right slammed shut, snapping the boy out of his reverie. Ryker looked up to see Ravk turning away from the door, the smile on his face morphing into an heinous smirk. The boy scowled as the blonde elite faced him, focusing all of his attention back on him. The child felt his heartbeat intensify in fear.

He was scared of this man, petrified in fact. Ryker felt his eyes widen slowly in terror as his pulse quickened and beads of cold sweat dripped down his dirty forehead. He was sure that he was white and shivering, no, he was positive he was. He disgusted with himself, he still hadn't got any braver. And because of that, Sennett had played along with his foolish plan, and now only the goddess knew where she was now.

The door burst off its hinges, astonishing all five of the people within the room. The five of them instantaneously directed their gazes to the doorway in amazement as the door toppled over and bounced through the room. Ryker's eyes narrowed as he tried to make out the figure that had so boldly burst into Ravk's personal torture room.

It was Yuri.

"Hey there, Ravk." The swordsman said with a smirk as he ambled nonchalantly into the room, acting as though he belonged there. Ryker felt a glimmer of hope ignite in his chest, seeing this man that had so easily beat Suingam. When he saw Yuri, he felt safe, like, he actually might make it out of this alive. "Long time no see."

"Hah. It's only been seven or eight hours you fool," The blonde elite uttered superciliously, running his hand through his hair habitually as the swordsman stopped a few feet from him. Yuri stood straight, but something seemed wrong about the way he carried himself. While he seemed fine, Ryker could tell something was wrong. "So, have you changed your mind?"

What was he talking about?

"What do you think, Ravk?" Yuri replied with a raspy laugh. Only then did Ryker notice it, Yuri was injured. While it didn't seem to be anything too serious, Ryker knew that in a battle like the one that the swordsman was about to enter, even the slightest injury would be a major disadvantage. "Do I look like I've changed my mind?"

"Heh. What a pity." The short blonde elite sneered, reaching around to his back and removing his pike from its sheath. He held it above his head, twirling it as though it was a baton, creating a steady wind above his head and his finished his statement with a monstrous grin "I was rather hoping to have your unique talent at my disposal..."

"Heh, sorry, not gonna happen" Yuri coughed slightly, and Ryker could have sworn he saw blood. Suddenly, the by felt this overpowering blood lust, and could only watch in amazement as Yuri moved forward slowly, saying with his ever present smirk on his face. "Lets get this over with."

* * *

><p>He was stuck in between, not sure what to quite do. Watching Ravk on the other side of the room, Yuri glided across the floor, keeping his eyes on his surroundings and doing his best to ignore his stinging wounds. He had had a spear jammed in his side, hit across the chest several times with blunt force and he couldn't hardly remember what else...<p>

But the one thing that now bothered him the most wasn't any of his wounds, it was the knowledge that his weird as crazy form wasn't invincible. That man back there had defeated him without even breaking a sweat, what if Ravk was the same way? What if Ravk was able to defeat him just as easily as the man in black?

The gels seemed to resonate in his travel bag, sending out a shock wave to remind him every second of every minute that they were there and that they wanted to be used. But, his enemy had gave them to him, how did he know that that man wasn't working for Ravk, and that these gels weren't poisoned in an attempt to stop his rampage?

He knew he needed to eat them, the lemon gel, the apple gel, and the two pineapple gels. If so, they would heal his wounds, as he was much too injured to even be considering fighting. But, he knew he had to kill Ravk, he needed to get Ryker to Dahngrest, and then find the rest of the Elite. However, he couldn't do any of that unless he ate at least one of those gels.

As it was, Yuri definitely didn't trust that man from before. Even if the man had spared his life, that could have been all part of Ravk's plan or even just a spur or of the moment kindness. He knew nothing about that man in black or any of his plans, personality, or such. Hell, what did it matter, he would probably never see that guy again anyway.

He noticed Ravk's two body guards charging towards him, while Ravk stood back and watched the spectacle with a gleeful smirk. Yuri tightened , his grip on Flamberge, throwing the fire-like blade over his shoulder, preparing himself for battle as anticipation raced through his veins and the man found himself craving the next few moments.

Already, the first of the two guards had reached him, the swordsman watched analytically as his opponents body twisted raising his blade high above his head and slashing vertically downwards, perhaps hoping to split the swordsman open. Yuri sliced horizontally, hitting his enemies blade and throwing off the attack.

He could hear another one behind him, and purposely released the tension in his legs, sending the swordsman collapsing onto the floor. Yuri heard the whistle of the blade above his head, but didn't relax for even a moment. The second he looked in front of him, he saw another blade headed straight for his head. Without even thinking, he had jumped straight up three feet, easily evading the blade.

He felt as though his blood was boiling.

Ahh, his wounds hurt.

Yuri attacked first this time, as he was falling he prepared a strike to the men below him, breaking right through the first guard's defense. As he landed, he spun on his heel, switching his blade to his left hand and raised the blade high above his head, ready to finish off his foe. As his blade came whistling down, the second knight's blade struck, throwing Yuri's attack way off aim.

What a pain, they were working together.

The swordsman managed to dodge the next several assaults thrown his way, observing the two knights movements very carefully. He could see Ravk watching the out of the corner of his narrow golden eyes, a large grin on his face with something akin to amusement decorating his features. Yuri hissed to himself slightly, was that man waiting for him to loose himself?

He refused to entertain that man any longer!

An impromptu burst of strength fueled by rage, a rush of power coursing through his veins, he sliced right through his opponents defenses. He could see their terror and surprise, yet he was more interested by the fact that he could see that they would be unable to regain their guard before he finished them off. This was the end for them.

In a single moment, he had jumped forward and slashed open the first guard's stomach. He ignored the blood and gore along with that foe's screams, instead focusing now on the second enemy. In much the same manner as before, he found himself slicing the second opponent's throat open, hearing only the knight's gurgled scream.

Yuri found himself stopping as his enemies fell down around him in a shower of blood. He was feeling it, the effects, he knew by now what was coming if he kept fighting. But, he did not trust it, besides, that thing was a last resort. He wanted to defeat Ravk by his own power, not by some weird ass spell that that woman had cast upon him.

He glanced up just in time to see Ravk's pike coming towards him, aimed right for his jugular. Yuri moved quickly, dropping his weight, landing hard on the cold and bloody concrete floor, rolling out of the way. He was up again in mere moments, the bloodied Flamberge in hand and adrenaline racing. He was ready to fight.

Ravk had imbedded his pike into the concrete, warning the swordsman of the weapon's sharpness. The elite gave a tug, yanking his blade out of the floor, leaving a sizable slice in the mixed sediment. The blond elite then turned slowly to face him as he took his pike and twirled it between his fingers as though it was a baton.

"Huh...is this all it took to kill Suingam?" Ravk asked with a psychotic smile, the force from him spinning his weapon in his and creating a small whirlwind. Yuri slightly braced himself, he had no idea what sort of powers this man possessed, whether it be physical strength or devious cunning. "Show me the strength...the power you used to kill him!"

Yuri scowled to himself as he wondered as to why was Ravk so insistent on seeing him in that state? Did all of the elite know about him and how he killed Suingam, or had that cowardly man from earlier just told Ravk. What had happened to that guy anyway? There was so much he didn't know, and it annoyed him.

As the swordsman stopped the attack that had been intended for him, he forcefully reminded himself this wasn't the time to be thinking about that stuff. After attacking once himself, the swordsman dodged another attack aimed for him. Yuri then jumped through the air, landing behind the Elite and striking out at him.

Ravk parried the assault, swiping his pike across the swordsman and slicing up Yuri's left side. The obsidian haired youth could have sworn that he felt a small electric shock when the blade cut into him. Ravk threw back his head, laughing as Yuri's blood rained through the air, landing in several small puddles on the floor.

The swordsman back stepped back several feet, clutching the bleeding cut with his right hand, Flamberge dangling loosely in his left. His breath came out in short gasps, it was already painful to move and breathe so freely, this injury wasn't helping him in the slightest. He knew he should just eat those gels, but, he doubted their trustworthiness.

"Charge...surge..." The council elite chanted to himself, a mystical blue aura building up around him as a spell circle formed under him on the ground. Wait, what the hell was going on were Yuri's only thoughts as the elite turned and pointed his pike at the bewildered obsidian haired man "..and shock, KVAR!"

Blue energy shot from the tip of his blade, pulsating like a living being and reaching out through the air, emitting a sound like a sparkler. The power surged forward, towards the baffled swordsman who watched the spectacle in shocked astonishment as the giant arrow of energy hit him like a bolt of lightening.

Yuri screamed in agony as the electricity electrocuted him, stifling every move and thought he had before and turning them into naught but a puddle of old thoughts. They didn't matter at that moment, as the electricity surged through his body, destroying and messing up god knows what. The electricity was messing with his brain, it hurt, it hurt so badly.

The surge of power ceased, and Yuri swayed where he stood, his body in unimaginable pain. Twitching slightly, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open, Yuri didn't even feel himself falling. The world around him had dissolved into nothing. He didn't even feel himself crash onto the floor, Flamberge clattering out of his hand across the ground.

How had Ravk created that spell? The aer was no longer...the blastia were gone...how had this man tamed mana like that? Rita had said that that sort of thing was impossible, that mana was nothing like aer, only the Kritya had even the slightest hope of using mana even remotely like the world had once used aer. It was impossible that Ravk had just used magic, yet...

He felt Ravk's kick on his side, overlapping the wound from before and snapping him out of his pain induced haze. Yuri was rolled over onto his back, the movement only possible because Ravk was moving him. He could barely see the silver gleam of Ravk's pike that was now pointed at his chest, just like before, with the man in the black...

"Heh...now that I get a good look at you, you even look like him." The blonde man smirked condescendingly as he pushed the tip of his blade slightly into Yuri's chest, right under the strange star shaped mark on his collarbone. The council elite laughed a little, his golden eyes narrowing with malice. "I'll finish you off just like I did him!"

What was he talking about...?

"You should have accepted my offer. Goodbye, fool." Ravk said haughtily, before his snake like eyes widened fully, a blue aura surrounding him like a ethereal mist, the spell circle from before coming together under his feet. Yuri could only watch in a mixture of distress and frustration. He was going to die, he couldn't avoid this one... "KVAR!"

He screamed again as he was hit by the spell again, but this time,at this close range, it was much more lethal. It was a truly strange feeling, the world around him was super clear yet he couldn't do anything. He could hear Ryker calling out to him, Ravk's laughter, and he had a million thoughts that flew through his mind all at once.

He had failed them all, Flynn, Karol, Rita, Repede, Raven, Judith, Ba'Ul, and Estelle...they were going to die, he had been unable to stop the Elite's deathly plot. He had been unable to save them. Those were some of the last things he thought before he felt as though his being was tossed into a bucket of ice.

His eyes shot open.

No. He wasn't going to die here... not yet.

* * *

><p>Ravk removed his pike from the body of the dead man before him, a feeling of satisfaction racing through his body, along with an acute sense of disappointment. He had thought that this boy would have put up more of a fight. But now it was clear that the swordsman's victory against Suingam had been only luck.<p>

Ravk brushed his fingers against the bump at his chest, where under his clothes, his lacrime lay. It had once again proven its worthiness the elite thought with a sneer as a small shock was transmitted from the lacrime to his hand. It was as insignificant as static electricity, but he took it as a sign that the lacrime was working.

Suddenly, there was a blinding pain at his back, a warm liquid soaking his clothes. Ravk stood in place, pain coursing through his body as his eyes looked down at his chest to see a gleaming ruby blade protruding from his chest, looking as though it was melting, dripping with crimson. It felt like a fire had been ignited in the cavity of his chest...

The blonde elite, fear racing through him, glanced over his shoulder to see the boy he thought he had killed on his feet, looming ominously behind him. Fear...he had not felt this sort of fear in a while, not since the great war when he had faced death in the eyes of the entelexeia. This moment though, it was impossible, the boy should have been dead!

How in the world was he still alive?

How was he still alive?

Ravk gasped in pain as the boy behind him yanked the blade out of his chest, immediately bringing his left hand, his free hand to the wound. No... he could not allow himself to die so easily! He would not be the next Suingam, he wouldn't allow himself to be! That thought coursing through him, he looked over his shoulder face his assaulter, his pike in hand.

The swordsman had raised his weapon, he was going to finish him off, was he? How laughable, he was Ravk of the elite, a man who had lived through the great war and had shed much blood for the position he was in! But as the blonde man met his murderers eyes, he lost his breath but somehow still managed to scream;

"What are you?"

* * *

><p>He watched as the swordsman stood in place as a fountain of blood erupted before him. A moment later, the body of his now headless opponent crashed to the ground. The head followed, landing on the concrete and bouncing across the room, before rolling to stop at his feet. He glanced down at the head with disgust.<p>

He looked up to see the swordsman, Yuri Lowell, now moving towards the giant guard holding the lacrime subject. He doubted that that man would last very long under the swordsman's wrath. There was a deep wail of pain, quickly cut short. The boy fell to the floor, looking up at the swordsman before him in fear.

However, the man didn't seem to judge the boy as a threat, completely ignoring him as the split body of the guard crashed to the ground around them in a spray of blood. The blond child cowered as the swordsman, unfazed, moved again to the side and looked back at the corpse of his previous opponent. There was so much blood everywhere.

But, this Lowell boy had killed Ravk, which, while it was somewhat annoying, it was more convenient. Just one less contender for the position of the head of the elite, one less competitor to exchange lacrime with. Now, all of Ravk's research belonged to him. Perhaps now he could perfect the Mezzo Lacrime, and then, Lord Sohtim and Lord Llisardggy would be so pleased.

Now, the swordsman stood alone by Ravk's corpse, looking down at it as if he were observing it. Suddenly, he could see an insane smile break out across the swordsman's face, before he tossed back his head and started to crazily laugh. The lacrime subject by the dead guard watched in confused terror as his savior laughed insanely. "I'm going to kill them...I'll kill them all!"

A smirk blossomed across his face, this one was certainly interesting. Had he lost his mind by the sheer power that had overwhelmed him? Regardless, now he desired to study this one as well, alongside Mezzo, Magia, and Anima. And who knew, maybe the source of this brats power was a lacrime.

Motioning to his men to move in from the shadows where they had watched, he slowly rose to his feet. There was a movement in the shadows that he did not recognize, but when he turned to look, no one was there. Perhaps it had been his imagination. Pushing those thoughts aside, he glanced back to the battlefeidl to see his men restraining the potential test subjects. Hopefully they wouldn't be too much trouble. That aside, Elydor knew that things were about to get much more interesting.

* * *

><p>AN: ahhh, I hope yall enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated, so, please review. :)

_**"Yuri did this?"**_

_**"Repede? Wait...where's Yuri?"**_

_**"Follow the pooch, he might have somethin interesting to show us..."**_

Next Time: The Separation: Interlude


	17. The Separation : Interlude

A/N: Wooohoo! Long one this time. O.o Anyway, hope yall enjoy!

* * *

><p>Flynn could only look at the bloody, still fresh corpse with a blank look as knights scurried around him, taking notes, drawing sketches of the crime scene and observing the bodies. And yet, even with all the pandemonium around him, he still didn't hear anything except this strange white noise that was accompanied only by the sound of his beating heart.<p>

Something was terribly wrong.

All of these people here had been killed by someone extremely strong, or, someone with an extremely sharp bade. The severing of the council elite's head was clean, showing the commandant that whoever had done it had done it easily. Also, the large brute of Ravk's personal knight squadron who had been cut so cleanly in half, not just anyone could do that...

"Yuri did this?" His voice sounded disbelieving to his own ears. After all, Yuri was just under six feet by an inch or two and not a body builder by any standard. Could Yuri really do this sort of thing? Then again, Flynn's blue eyes flickered over to the other two bodies in the center of the room,Yuri had had that strange display of strength back in Zaphias.

He shook his head, ignoring the sick feeling at the pit of his stomach as the overwhelming stench of blood hit him once again. It seemed to him that these corpses less resembled humans and more resembled giant blood filled balloons that had simply been popped. It was really rather disgusting, and the blond was forced to back away and take a seat in the corner of the room.

He looked along the wall in the dark corner he took a moments rest in, observing the wall in a state of ennui, a frown forming at the slight specks of blood decorating the wall. It was all the way back here too? Even so, something was odd, there was this space among the wall that had no blood splatter, like something had been in front of the wall and had got hit by the blood instead. Flynn made sure to take note of that oddity.

Pushing that thought aside for the minute, the commandant pushed himself up to a standing position. It seemed he couldn't take a moment to himself without thinking about this mess, he might as well stop trying for now and just focus back on work to get it done. Huffing to himself slightly in annoyance, the blonde commandant approached Ravk's body, staring down at it with a grimace.

This was the second one. Just how the hell had two of the Empire's most influential and most powerful people been killed off in two weeks in the same manner? Both had been beheaded, their faces contorted permanently in terror as their heads rolled. Their guards had also been done away with, but in a much less shocking manner. Well, except for Ravk's brute of a guard, that was pretty terrifying.

Originally, Flynn had highly doubted that Yuri could pull this sort of stunt... But now, as he stared at the piling bodies in the jungles of Tolbyccia, with the words from the prisoners at Peis ringing in his ears, he was coming to one conclusion...

Yuri was becoming a serial killer.

That is, if it was even really Yuri behind this, perhaps he had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time back at the Peis, and the prisoners of the place, knowing no better, had dubbed him their hero. But, the commandant knew that it would be just like Yuri to be behind this, not so much for the brutality as the reasons, this seemed to be something Yuri would do.

Suingam had been tormenting and killing people as well as several other things that were very illegal. The main thing that had really hit Flynn the hardest was the fact that children were the main subjects of his experiments, according to what the captives at Peis had said, once they had grown older than sixteen, the experiments dwindled.

While there had been no sight of any living creature in this building yet, there was something equally strange here. While it, unlike Peis, had remained in one piece, looked as if it had been stripped bare, and very recently too. Large machinery was the only thing left, although all of it was destroyed beyond recognition. It wouldn't help even if it hadn't been destroyed, as the blond doubted that any of his men could have actually use those machines.

There were also several burn piles scattered throughout the compound, burnt piles of corpses that stank so bad that no one dared to approach it yet. Hell, Flynn could smell it here, although the nearest burn pile was almost fifty feet from where he stood now. He already felt for the knights assigned to that task.

But it was fairly obvious that there had definitely been some hurried cover up of some kind, and Flynn wanted to know why. After all, if they had nothing to hide he would have nothing to show for his suspicions except for a pretty hefty case of paranoia. After all, Flynn reasoned, he had been suspecting these very men for the last several months.

What were the Elite up to anyway? He wondered, first the people at Peis, and now here, at Kvar, he believed Ravk had named it, this strange empty shell of a place that reeked of death. It was no different than Peis would have been if it had been stripped bare, so Flynn felt it would be safe to assume that this place was just like Peis.

But that could mean that all of the Elite had one of these, which could mean Yuri, or whoever the murderer was, wasn't going to stop anytime soon. It was highly possible, if his assumption was correct, that whoever was killing these people was going to kill them all. But when, two elite in two weeks. Flynn brushed his hand against his wound, almost a month since Yuri had injured him.

He noticed the coroner staring at the strange blastia like gem on Ravk's chest. The blond shuddered, it had disturbed him too when he had first seen it back when the coroner had first started checking the body for clues. It was a strange red gem that shone dully, as if lacking life, a transparent gem for whatever reason unnerved everyone there.

The gem itself was incredibly strange, seeming to have burrowed underneath the skin, a thin layer or two covering it completely. It was as if Ravk had been absorbing it into his body, which was creepy enough on its own. But, to raise the bar in the creepiness factor was the strange veins that had branched off the gem and into the blood vessels and to the heart.

There was other, more in depth details that had been found, but Flynn did not understand as to what they meant. He was certainly no doctor or coroner. All he knew is that the gem was bad news. Flynn moved away from the sight, slightly sickened by it and unable to look at it any longer. Instead, he observed his men as they went through the procedure of investigating the shell of the compound.

There were also several reports he needed to look over, including three or four from the Englin Brigade he had left back at Peis. According to the reports, the captives at Peis had been steadily becoming healthier with the new availability of water, shelter, and food. But, five days into the treatment, without any warning, they had began to drop like flies with no explainable cause. But the weirdest thing was that the gems imbedded in their chests had simply fallen off their corpses.

What the hell were those gems?

What the hell was going on? Yuri knew something, he had to. Flynn shook his head, as he saw no point in dwelling on this any longer. Fretting about it wasn't going to answer his questions for him and panicking about the situation wasn't going to help him any. It was frustrating though, he knew that the answers were right in front of him, yet they were slipping through his fingers like sand.

He felt a twinge of pain at his side and raised his hand to his hip, just below the almost healed wound. The same one Yuri himself had inflicted on him all that time ago, even then, Flynn knew that Yuri had known what was going on. All the way back then, Yuri had known what he was going to do... Man, he was going to feel like such an asshole if the killer wasn't Yuri.

He'd prefer feeling like an asshole over killing his good friend.

Besides, how had it come down to this? Why was he hunting Yuri down, because Yuri had almost killed him or out of curiosity? Why had Lady Estellise put the palace and her home behind her, was it a hurried childish decision or had she done it for freedom? Why was this all happening, how could he lead if he didn't even know why he was doing what he was doing?

He just wished that he knew exactly what had happened that night when Yuri had been out in Bluebell Meadow. He wished he knew why Yuri had been out there in the first place. The reason he was so fixated on that moment in time was really simple, as that was the earliest date he could trace all this confusion back to. There had been fishy going-on's before, but nothing had happened till then.

Go figure Yuri would come and mess things up.

"Commandant!" The call to duty rang clearly, like a bell through his mind, tearing his thoughts away from his troublesome friend and his troublesome ways and back to business. He could always debate the situation another time, like he had a hundred times before now. He could hear the footsteps approaching him hurriedly.

"What is it?" Flynn asked, turning around and instantaneously sliding his game face into place as the rookie knight stopped before him, gasping and out of breath. Wait, this was one of the knights stationed at the entrance of Kvar, had he ran all the way here? That was a pretty long way. Now the commandant was more curious than ever, what had prompted such an action?

"A messenger from Lord Elydor!" The knight answered, squatting down and placing his hands on his knees for support. The other knights and the coroner stopped what they were doing and stared at the scene. Most, if not all of them knew of Elydor, and just how important this event would have to be to warrant a messenger from him.

"What?" Flynn exclaimed, a feeling of dread overcoming him. He didn't know why he felt this way, his knights were excited and animated, muttering among themselves. As the man from the council approached him, all of the knights fell silent, almost in tune with the man's footsteps, watching him with almost admiration. What the hell were they admiring? This guy was just a messenger...

The man bowed his brunette head out of respect for the commandant, his conduct was proper, thus far, that is. His clothes were rather strange, an ornate purple turtleneck under a bright green and blue vest, accompanied by purple poofy pants that were tied at his ankles with small ankle high light blue boots. And, at neck was clasped a blue cape.

"Sir, I am a messenger from the exalted Lord Elydor." The messenger said, his voice rather low and nasally, already slightly hard on the blond commandants ears. He doubted he was looking forward to hearing this man's message as the brunette continued eloquently, finally standing up and looking at Flynn. "I have orders to relay it to you immediately."

Flynn tried not to crack a smile, if Yuri had been here he would have surely made a snarky comment by now. Probably something along the lines of "Wow, Elydor must really think highly of himself, making everyone call him 'the exalted'" while rolling his eyes and saying it strangely...or something like that...

"Well then, lets hear it." Flynn replied as he made sure to steady himself, tucking his helmet under his arms and preparing himself for quick relay of a few words. However, his attitude changed when he saw the messenger take a deep breath and hold it for a few moments. By the goddess this was going to take all evening.

"On this glorious day of the eighteenth day of the fifth month of the second year of Ioder, I was sent here to relay the message from the sublime Elydor." The man began, surprising everyone with his rather impressive and wordy opening, "Yesterday, on the seventeenth day of the fifth month of the second year of Ioder, the council Elite Ravk was brutally murdered."

Yesterday? It was only yesterday? And Elydor already knew about it? Something wasn't quite adding up, but Flynn kept his trap shut, saying something now would only put him in the spotlight, and if anything was up, would alert the council that he was on to them. For now, he would remain silent and bide his time.

"And on that day, while the murderer was engrossed in his evil deeds, Lord Elydor came upon the scene." The messenger voice rose an octave, his hands moving around his head in a passionate display, almost as if he was possessed, "And while the heinous man was still busy with his crime, the great Elydor ordered his men to capture the criminal!"

Wait, what? The killer was already apprehended? Flynn's heart skipped a beat. By the goddess, he hoped it wasn't Yuri. Even if it was Yuri, he would have to eventually pay for his crimes. But being captured by the elite wasn't how it would happen. After all, the elite, while they controlled the flow of money, upholding the law was Flynn's job.

"And so, I was sent to inform you on this glorious day of the eighteenth day of the fifth month of the second year of Ioder," The brunette continued, running his hand through his short mop of hair and straightening his posture, "That you may cease your search for Lord Ravk and Lord Suingam's murderer and refocus your efforts to the important task of locating Lady Estellise."

How the hell did Elydor know that Ravk's killer was also Suingams?

Flynn was silent, his mind busy processing the information. This was certainly very, very fishy. For one thing, how had the messenger been able to locate them so quickly if this all had only happened yesterday? Another thing that didn't quite add up was the sheer fact that Elydor had apprehended the criminal while he was in the middle of his job, but, that didn't seem to make sense either. The messenger had taken his silence as a notion of understanding, but Flynn wasn't quite done with him yet.

"I'm sorry sir, but what evidence does Lord Elydor have to support that Lord Ravk's murderer was also Lord Suingam's murderer?" Flynn spoke up, surprising himself with just how cold his tone was. Was he really feeling that hostile towards Elydor? For a moment he considered asking about why Elydor himself had arrested the murderer and took him in instead of directly handing him over to the knights, but stopped himself.

He couldn't arouse too much suspicion.

"Eh?" The brunette seemed shocked by the commandant's query, hesitating for a moment and glancing back over his shoulder at the blond man. There was barely a second's worth of irresolution before the man spoke again, responding to the question as if the answer was obvious, "Lord Elydor said so, so it must be, no?"

"...You're right." The commandant finally stated, looking at the messenger with a smile on his face and seemingly content with that answer. He could feel the eyes of his soldiers on him, full of disbelief, how could their commandant believe such a asinine reply? Flynn's words and demeanor, however, remained pleasant."Thank you for your help, I'll refocus my search on Lady Estellise."

"Alright then Commandant," Elydor's courier smiled back, tightening his cloak round his shoulders, the giant golden 'E' on the back of his cloak shimmering in the light as the fabric swayed at his knees. The man turned away from Flynn, his voice the same cadence as it was when he had first came, "I'll pass on your words to Lord Elydor."

With that, the man bowed his head and ducked low, snaking through and past the knights easily, like smoke. The knights watched him in awe as he slipped surreptitiously out the arch of the doorway, the blond commandant however, turned away. A female knight with coffee hued hair made her way through the crowd and to his side, concern written across her face.

"Commandant?" She asked under her breath from his right, slightly confused by his behavior. Flynn appreciated her gesture, she hadn't been fooled by his little act, she knew him too well for that. Yet, he didn't turn to face her, for what he wanted to say could be heard by her ears only, the spies in the knights might rat him out should he make himself too conspicuous.

"Sodia." The blonde whispered harshly, catching her attention. He saw her eyes narrow immediately, knowing that that tone was reserved for work situations only. The stuff he was going to toss himself into was serious, and he needed to make sure that someone had his back, if even only figuratively. "Tonight, we leave for Elydor's."

"But, commandant," She hardly sounded astonished by this news, go figure, she knew he had a lasting suspicion on the elite. He didn't take her questions as ill intended, more or less, she was reminding him to have an excuse at the ready in case he needed one later on. He smiled to himself as she proceeding, "on what grounds are we to investigate Lord Elydor?"

"...upholding the law is my job..." Flynn muttered, running his hand through his unruly hair as he moved closer to Ravk's body, glancing down at it momentarily with a blank look. So, the man behind the murders had been caught? A slight, confident smile broke through Flynn's politeness as he finished his statement, "So, that is, if he has truly captured the killer, it is my job to take him to the courts."

"Understood."

* * *

><p>Heliord had changed drastically in a year, since being situated right smack dab between a guild city and the empire. It was a clash of cultures, guild members hanging out with knights and making merry, brewery guilds working for bartenders in empire owned buildings. There were guild stalls plated right next to the guard station and children from Danhgrest playing with children from the Empire.<p>

There was people everywhere, moving along the many streets branching off the main one. Carts carrying their goods moved down the cobblestone street, the crowd dividing in its wake. There were so many people moving along its developing streets and flocking to the well stocked Common Wealth stand planted near the center of the city, to the right of where the blastia had been a little over a year ago.

Perhaps the reason for all the commotion and animated movement was the sun. It was a rather sunny day, a rarity in this part of Tolbyccia, and people were taking advantage of the sunlight. Rita figured it wouldn't last long, give it a few hours or so and the rain clouds would be back, once again soaking the tropical landscape.

Estelle and Rita moved slowly towards the center of the small but thriving town, dodging citizens and watching the knights carefully. If any one of them saw Estelle, they were liable to try and capture her and return her to Zaphias. Now, Rita knew that her friend couldn't run away from the Empire forever, but, if that's what Estelle wanted to do, who was she to try and stop her?

Besides, Estelle had been rather quiet since the incident on the boat. They had seen him, been so close to catching up with him. Yet, Rita thought with a frown, he had ran the moment he had seen them. That didn't strike her as something Yuri would do, and it was confusing her. From what she had managed to get out of the kid he was traveling with...

Rita shook her head violently. She didn't need to tell Estelle any of that, that Yuri had killed Suingam. Besides, if she understood exactly what the Elite were, she realized that the swordsman had got himself into quite the scenario. After all, the Elite were the shadows behind everything, controlling the flow of money, and whoever possessed the money, harnessed this world.

If found out, Yuri would surely be executed.

Estelle didn't need to know that. She had enough she was already worried about, enough things that already bothered her. She had returned from pursuing Yuri with a calm and collected facade, but the mage (or at least had-been mage) knew something was amiss. If Yuri had done or said anything to hurt her, ooh, he would have hell to pay!

The young pink haired woman hadn't spoke of him at all since then, the young brunette haired girl had had a good three days of silence. Or, at least a three days without having to hear Estelle talk about him. But, then again, the petite princess hadn't spoken much since then, and the silence had been strange other than comforting.

But she had sighed a lot. And looked at the sky longingly. Sat in place with a oddly vacant expression on her face. And several other annoying habits she had seemed to picked up this past week. It left the mage at a loss, completely befuddled by her friends behavior, leaving her wondering what the hell had come over Estelle?

Rita had a feeling that the Krityan would be able to tell her what was going on, but, she hadn't seen Judith in two weeks or more. How long had it been since she had left Dahngrest again? Even so, Judith had left for her assignment two days before Yuri had left for Zaphias, so, it had been more than a month. Heh, it really hadn't felt to be that long ago.

But, the krityan woman was knowledgeable about these sorts of things, the things that Estelle seemed to be fighting. The things Rita didn't understand, and, she grimaced, nor did she particularly want to. Those sorts of things that weren't hard facts with solid evidence to back them up, they baffled her, leaving her stretching her head and wondering on what biases they were thought on.

She slapped herself on the forehead, no, she wouldn't go there...

The mage opened one eye lazily, her mind wandering as the two of them wandered throughout the streets of Heliord. Neither of them had thought about their next moves, whether or not they were going to stock up, although Rita figured they would. They would also probably stay a night at the inn before heading out for Dahngrest. She saw a flash or orange and green out of the corner of her eye.

Eh?

"Rita! Estelle!" A happy, energetic young voice exclaimed from her right, surprising her and making her jump. She didn't have any time to react before a bundle of energy attacked her, tackling her to the ground. The mage hit the cobblestone ground hard, grunting slightly as a small cloud of dust and pebbles rose up around her, displaced by her landing.

"Karol!" Estelle smiled slightly, looking down at the entangled pair as Rita tried to wrestle the boy off her. The princess stepped back sightly as the the crowd slightly stared at the small commotion, before turning away and continuing their everyday lives. The princess paid them no heed, clapping her hands together in excitement, "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Yeah me too!" Karol replied, returning her grin with one of his own as he dodged Rita's crazy waving arms kung-fu. The small, spiky haired boy's grin slightly faltered as he looked around. After a few moments he glanced down at the outraged mage and back to the pleased princess, confused. "Wait, where's Yuri? Isn't he with you guys?"

"Never mind that!" Rita shouted, hoping to change the direction of the conversation as she wrestled the young guild master. After a few more seconds of struggling she victoriously pushed the thirteen year old boy off her. Panting slightly and rising to her feet, she dusted off her clothes and shot a few dirty looks to some of the crowd that was staring, "What are you doing here, squirt?"

"Raven and I were heading to Capua Torim for a job." The brunette boy said happily, unfazed by the little wrestling match he had just lost, throwing his arms behind his head and playing with his feet slightly. Th boy took a deep inhale, perhaps smelling the fresh air before looking back over to the mage, "We're supposed to be investigating a string of disappearances in the area."

"Disappearances?" Rita asked, curious.

"Yeah. But its weird," The boy nodded, his demeanor changing from light and playful to serious and business like in a matter of moments. He blew out a breath before peeking at Estelle, sort of put off by her rather silent and solemn demeanor, but finished his statement anyway, "You see, only children under thirteen are turning up missing..."

"That is weird..." The pink haired princess agreed, twisting her hands in her lap. She looked down at Karol, then observed the following area, leaving the mage to wonder what exactly her friend was getting all worried about now. "That sounds like a dangerous job. You're not going alone, are you?"

"Naw, Raven's with me," The boy smiled, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the main square. The boy seemed relaxed as he held up a small brown leather bag, presumably full of gels, bottles, lenses and other provisions. "He's checking up some sources at the town office, so I went and bought us some supplies for our job."

There was a racket from the guards station, catching everyone's attention, including theirs. Rita's eyes narrowed, that old man better not have started anything over there. The crowd was pushing past them, trying to get close enough to see what was going on, paying little mind to the small group of travelers in their wake.

"Weeeee, I'm drunk~" A tall, dark skinned man muttered as he easily weaved his way through the rushing people, catching the mage off guard. No one seemed to notice him, it was like he was just smoke, moving along at a leisurely pace through the hasty crowd. His black hair covered his eyes, and combine that with the fact that he was drunk, it was no wonder he ran into Estelle.

The two of them landed in a crumpled heap on the ground, the man slightly to the side and somewhat stunned, Estelle landed daintily on her knees, slightly bewildered. Rita felt a protective firey instinct rage in her chest. Why that...idiot!

"Estelle!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir!" Estelle panicked, waving off her friends concern for her, more worried about the man that had ran into her. She was up on her feet immediately, rushing to the drunk older man's side. Rita smacked her forehead, of course Estelle would be more worried about the man that ran into her than herself. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"Its fine, little lady," The man drawled, rolling onto his back and covering his face with his arm, perhaps to block out the sun. He was drunk alright, Rita could smell the alcohol from where she was standing, what the hell had this guy done, took a bath in it or something? "Sides', I'm the one who should be apologizin'."

He got that much right.

Rita observed the man, he looked to be middle aged, maybe a bit older than Raven. He wore all black, tunic, leggings, and a hood. She shivered, he reminded her eerily of the grim reaper, but, there was no sense of evil emanating from this man. The only thing coming off this guy was that overpowering stench of alcohol.

After a few minutes of gracious and idle small talk, the man woozily rose to his feet, swaying with the wind. He politely said farewell and thanked Estelle for her courtesy, nodded once to both Rita and Karol, before turning away from them. Rita made a face to herself, she still hadn't seen that man's face, but the slight blood splatter stains on his clothing was more than suspicious enough.

"Oh, and one more thing," The man said suddenly, still facing away from them. He no longer sounded drunk, his voice was serious. But, Rita could have sworn that she heard a smile in his tone, "West of the tower of gears, there's an island. On that island, you will find a building, and inside there, you will find your young Mr. Lowell."

What? What was he talking about?

Rita glanced over at Estelle, watching as the young woman focused solely on the man before them.

"You might wanna hurry too," The man added, his tone becoming rather cheerful, as he glanced back at them, a smirk on his face. Rita tried to get a good look at him, but everything about his mouth remained in the shadow of his long obsidian bangs. His lips moved gracefully, and for a moment, it was as if no sound had came out, "Otherwise, he might die."

The blood from Estelle's face drained.

Karol's eyes widened in a mixture of confusion and fear.

Rita prepared herself to go up and grab him by the shoulder, to demand what was going on.

"There he is, get him!" The voice of the captain knight of Heliord snapped the trio out of their dazes as the clanking of the knights armor quickly approached where they stood, shoving through the crowd behind them in a rough and haphazard manner, much unlike the man before them. Rita could hear the people yelling and moving around in a frenzy.

"Whoops, gotta run..." The man laughed, giving them a friendly wave over his shoulder. Rita turned around to yell at him, maybe to make him stay somehow and explain what he had meant before. When he had said that Yuri would die if they didn't hurry...But, by the time she thought she had found him, he had already disappeared in to the crowd.

Who was that guy?

The mage glanced back at her friend, who stood there, her expression tormented. She had gone white and was standing there, trembling. As the knights pushed past them in their chase for the drunkard, Rita sighed and moved up to the princess, placing her hand on her shoulder and shaking her lightly. She didn't know what she could do, but she knew she needed to try.

"Estelle..." Rita sighed, approaching her friend and patting her on the shoulder, not noticing some of the crowd giving the pink haired girl strange looks. Rita knew that the princess would be worried, and although Rita couldn't help but be worried herself, she trusted that the swordsman could get care of himself. "Estelle...?"

"Wait, whats going on? Why did that guy say Yuri was going to die? How did he know? Whats going on here?" Although the mage could understand Karol's panic, it still annoyed her, did he think he was the only one freaking out here? At times like this it would be more helpful if he simply remained silent and supportive.

"Well, well, well," A familiar drawl caught her attention, drawing her gaze from the princess and towards the source of the voice. She tried to ignore her growing irritation as another tall figured weaved his way through the now thinning crowd. Great, just who she wanted to see at a time like this, the number one cause of her annoyance. Wait, right now, that was Yuri... the number two cause of all her annoyances."What do we have here?"

"Raven, there you are," Karol said, glancing over his shoulder as if looking for reassurance as the purple clad archer came up behind them, sauntering to them lazily as Karol turned all the way around, excitedly informing him, "You wouldn't believe what just happened! You just missed quite the scene...oh, how did collecting information go?"

"Well, it seems some other guild came before we did and claimed the job, so, we came all the way here for nothing." The oldest member of Brave Vesperia sighed, ignoring Karol as the boy started throwing a mini fit, instead looking over to the two girls. "Hi there, when did you two get here? Did you kidnap the lady from her castle?"

"Just a little bit ago," Rita responded, ignoring the little joke that the older man had inserted into his greeting. She was too concerned with other matters, namely Estelle. The princess was holding up her facade of cheerfulness, but Rita knew it wouldn't last long. "We stopped by to grab some provisions before we took off for Danhgrest, that's all."

"Hah, I see." The older man nodded as Karol finally calmed down. For a moment Raven looked confused, his eyes drifting over the small group of people in front of him before his eyes rested on Estelle. A little baffled by her rather silent behavior and the expression on her face, he asked her with a slight twinge of concern in his voice, "Whats up with you, milady?"

"Oh, yeah," The boy next to him said, stepping aside for a moment and looking down to the ground, trying to remember what exactly had happened just minutes earlier. "Some guy told us about a place where Yuri was at and that he was going to die...at first I was wary of his words but then I thought about it, how did that guy know we know Yuri? I don't get whats going on, but..."

"Wait there boy, tell me the whole story." Raven said, placing his hands on Karol's shoulders as a few raindrops began to fall from the sky. Of course it would wait till now to start raining, Rita thought with a scowl as the small drizzle quickly turned into a raging downpour. Raven turned to the rest of them, "Of course, lets get to some shelter first, you all can tell me what happened there."

* * *

><p>Karol and Rita had just finished their narration of the events that had taken place just minutes before Raven's arrival. The older man's expression hadn't changed once throughout the whole story, except his eyes seemed to harden slightly when Rita described the drunk man that they had run into. Estelle stood near the window, watching the rain front under the empty stall with a blank expression.<p>

"Hmm," Raven didn't seem fazed, which struck Rita as slightly fishy. Then again, this was the old man she was dealing with, he seemed to know everything, street smart wise. Then again, that's probably what he wanted everyone to think. She saw him stroking his stubble thoughtfully, "The only place west of the tower of gears is Elydor's manor..."

"Elydor?" Karol asked. It didn't surprise the mage that the runt didn't know of him, most of the guilds didn't know anything about the elite. From her knowledge, most of the empire had no knowledge about the Elite. She kept an eye on Estelle, noticing the princesses posture suddenly stiffen as she bit her bottom lip, clearly worrying.

"One of the top council men of the empire, him and the six others direct everything that happens in the empire," Raven clarified, with a sigh. His next words carried a worrisome weight, yet he spoke with a smile, "If what you heard is true, Yuri's got himself in a pretty nasty situation."

"What do you mean?" Again, it was the brunette boy of the four of them asking questions. Estelle fidgeted somewhat nervously, wringing her hands and moving tapping her foot against the ground. Rita, while she did not know much about the Elite knew plenty about the consequences of Yuri's actions. He was going to pay for his displays of valor, and he was going to pay dearly.

"I'll explain on the way, as I figure we're going to go and help our guild mate," Raven smiled, glancing over at the pink haired girl, clearly having noticed her vexation. The rain was ceasing slightly, so the man made a move to step out of their shelter, but stopped, a wry grin blooming across his face, "Heh...well, lookie there."

Everyone directed their eyesight to the general area where Raven had his eyes locked on. A blue gray dog limped into town, dirty and injured. Rita ignored her fellow travelers, her eyes too busy looking over the dog himself. The thing that caught her attention instantly was the chunk of black cloth that looked very familiar. Was that part of Yuri's vest?

"Repede?" Karol shouted in astonishment as he and Estelle rushed over to the dog. Estelle dropped to her knees almost right away, seeming, as if for a moment, that she would try to heal him with her power. But, she stopped, instead reaching into her white travel bag and pulling out an apple gel to feed him. While Repede swallowed the gel hungrily, Karol looked around in confusion, "Wait... where's Yuri?"

"I guess that man's story just might be true," Rita murmured with a frown, not realizing that she was thinking aloud. She stole a moment to look at her friend, who had finished giving Repede gels and was now looking back at the mage with a look of determination. Rita smiled to herself slightly, had Estelle made up her mind again?

Even as Rita spoke, she saw the dog trotting away, swinging his head back to sniff the black cloth, before sniffing the air. He was definitely tracking Yuri down, Rita knew it, something had happened to the swordsman, which could mean that the drunkards words were true. If that was the case, perhaps Estelle's worry was well warranted.

"Repede, where are you going?" Karol shouted as the dog began to trot on out of sight, focused on his mission. The dog did hesitate for a moment, glancing back at them, the pipe in his mouth slightly down turned. It was as if he was beckoning them, telling them to follow him. It unnerved Rita slightly, and the uneasy feeling in her gut grew.

"Lookie there," Raven smiled crookedly, stroking his rubble on his chin thoughtfully. Rita saw everyone look at him for a few moments, waiting for what he'd say next, although the mage had a pretty good idea of what he was going to say, "I say that we should follow the pooch, he might have somethin interesting to show us..."

Hopefully he'd lead them to Yuri.

* * *

><p>AN: RAVEN~ KAROL~ RAVEN~ 3 Wooo, the gang is assembling, minus one Krityan woman...where oh where could that Judy be? Anyway, review please, I hope you enjoyed this weeks update~

_**"This is all a game, you're the pawn and I'm the king."**_

_**"This place is huge, we could spend days searching for him here!"**_

_**"I can't believe this..."**_

Next Time: The Separation : Elydor I : Beginner


	18. The Separation : Elydor I : Beginner

A/N: WOOOHOO! 100,000 words! YESH! Longest story I have EVER written! And I'm nowhere near done! (clears throat) Sorry about that. Anyway, sorry about the delay. We're getting close to finals for my college and so I have limited time since I've been playing Chrono Trigger and Fable 2, oh, I mean, studying. Studying for finals and helping friends move. Yeah... Well, anyway, expect at least two more chapters before the end of the year!

* * *

><p>His eyelids felt heavy, his breathing was labored. The air stung his dry mouth and throat, making it painful for him to breathe. He couldn't move at all, but it wasn't that much of an issue as his body was aching all over anyway. This pain would have been unbearable had it not been for the fact that he was going numb.<p>

Yuri groaned, uncomfortable with the way his body upper body was leaning against the wall, and his lower back was flat against the ground. This was certainly uncomfortable, and he would rather like to sit up or lay down, not stuck somewhere in the middle. He tried to push himself up, but there was a strange strain on his shoulders and he gasped in pain as his wrists suffered a sharp stinging sensation.

How had he forgotten that his wrists were bolted to the stone wall above his head? Much less that his ankles were handcuffed together in this filthy godforsaken cell.

The swordsman forced another breath as he tried to lift his head enough so that he might see more of his surroundings. He had been in here for a while, yet he hadn't got a good look at his cell yet, perhaps there would be a good instrument of escape hidden away. Not that it honestly mattered all that much, he was rather restricted in the movement department. Goddess, his head was heavy, he couldn't even lift it.

He was so thirsty, and his stomach didn't even rumble in hunger anymore... When was the last time he had ate or drank anything? Here, without the aid of windows there was no noticeable passage of time unless the guards outside said something about the time of the day. But that did not happen often, not nearly as often as he would like.

He didn't even recall how he had gotten here. The last thing he clearly remembered was severing Ravk's head...seeing the blood fly...and then he had cut that other guard down. But there wasn't much aside from that, other than the signature, the insane pleasure he had derived from his actions... was he turning into some sort of blood thirsty beast?

He saw, just barely in his line of sight a pair of purple ankle high boots as they descended down the hallway and past his cell. They were talking loudly and laughing loudly and rather obnoxiously as they passed. That no longer bothered him instead he listened to their footsteps, one, two, three... counting until he heard the squeak of the door at the end of the hallway.

Damn, it hurt to think.

The footsteps were returning, god that had been quick. What had they done, gone to the door just to open it? Honestly it wouldn't surprise him, he had been waiting for this to happen again. For Elydor to return and start the next session, or so as Elydor called it. He really wasn't looking forward to this, it was never a pleasant experience.

He cold hear the door swing open with a creak, and the hushed whispers of the guards pleading Elydor not to go in alone. The swordsman laughed a little, smirking to himself lightly. He couldn't understand how he could pose too much of a threat right now, being shackled to the wall and all. Elydor could stand right next to him and he wouldn't be able to do damn thing to him right now.

"You're still alive, how extraordinary!" Elydor sure sounded excited, he also sounded like he was standing just a few feet away from him and to his left, perhaps observing him. Tch, he was still too far away for Yuri to even consider to try anything. He would have to grin and bear for now. "Three days without food or water combined with strenuous activity, and you're still alive!"

Oh, so it had been three days? He hadn't had any idea until now, it had seemed like so much longer. Three days, he wondered what had happened to Ryker and that little girl? Hopefully they had escaped and made their way out of this place. Where was Repede, anyway? He hadn't seen the dog since the time back at the port. Yuri stopped himself, the dog could get care of himself. Besides, he was sure that Repede was fine.

"You, there," Elydor said to one of the guards at the cell door, standing back, terrified of the two men in the cell. The swordsman was the bloodthirsty demon who had slaughtered Ravk and Suingam, and Elydor was apparently their fearsome leader. Apparently. Yuri hadn't seen much fearsomeness, only a lot of annoying."Unshackle him."

Everything was blurry and the lighting was blinding, Yuri squinted his eyes as one of the guards took a tentative step into the cell. The swordsman ignored everything else and focused alone on the shadow of the guard that approached him squatted down on his knees. Yuri ignored that too, waiting for the jingling of the keys, that would certainly catch his attention.

"I hope you're well prepared," Elydor spoke suddenly as the guard unshackled Yuri's feet first, wary of his famed resistance. Yuri was barely listening to Elydor's words, instead waiting for his chance to escape. The guard looked at the imprisoned swordsman warily as Elydor walked up behind him, looking down at his prisoner with a smile. "Today's game isn't like the ones before."

Great. What would he be forced to do now?

"Taser him." Elydor commanded the guard in front of Yuri, just as the key hovered over the lock of the shackles on his hands. Yuri scowled, how had Elydor caught on to his escape plan? Was it really that obvious? Or was this simply another precaution... he had tried to escape before, after all. "If we don't he may try to escape again."

The guard nodded, placing the key back in his pocket and removing a strange rectangular hand held device with a blue lacrime in the center of it. Yuri closed his eyes as he felt the cool metal being pressed against the side of his head, just above his ear. As painful as this was, he knew it would only take a moment.

* * *

><p>Raven glared down at the sand, moving it aside with his foot as it was far too hot for him to handle with his hands. The sun beat down on him from above as he sifted through the terrain, searching for something that only he knew about. It had been here the last time Alexei and him had came here, and this search in this heat was beginning to annoy him.<p>

His foot caught on something and he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there it was, he had found it. Moving aside the dry and warm sand with his foot, clearing away an area roughly the size of a small child, he squinted as the glare from the metal nearly blinded him. Heh, it looked like the door was still there.

Heh, looked like his memory was rather intact after all. And here he had thought that he might have had the wrong area entirely, thinking that perhaps it had been on the opposite side of the island. He looked over to Repede with an appreciative smile as he wiped the sweat off his brow, had it not been for the dog Raven figured he might have never found that door.

He didn't have to touch it to know that the metal itself was scorching hot, as the sand had done little to protect it from the sun. The archer knew that if he was stupid enough to try to open the door with his bare hands that he would surely get burned. Hell, it was hot enough through his shoes, he sure as hell did not want to touch that with his hands.

"A trap door?" Karol asked curious from behind him, prompting the archer to glance over his shoulder as the boy approached him and looked around him. The boy hardly seemed tired, in fact Raven thought that he possessed the most energy out of all of them. That was good, at least one of them could get away if they got into something they couldn't handle...

"No..." Rita gasped as she and Estelle trudged up behind the trio, "Its a maintenance passage from the time of blastia. When the blastia would break inside complex structures and in places where they could not be easily reached, mages would have to crawl through small passages in order to fix the broken blastia. But, we transformed most all the blastia into spirits last year..."

"You mean there is a building somewhere nearby?" Karol exclaimed, while Raven smirked to himself. So that was the reason why Alexei had come out this far and to this particular entrance. But, he thought with a frown, these people didn't use blastia. They were delving into another far more confusing and secretive art and science than the blastia had ever been.

"So, do you think they've blocked it off since then?" The princess inquired, trudging up to him whilst supporting the exhausted mage on her right shoulder. She was being such a trooper, and must surely be rather tired herself, but was still going even though she was carrying a deadweight. He would offer to take the mage from her, but was pretty sure that the little amazoness wouldn't react kindly to his offer, no matter how pure his intentions might be.

"I don't know." Rita shrugged, answering both the boy and the princess questions, unaware of the archers thoughts. Honestly, he damn well knew that Elydor's hideout was just beneath them, he just didn't really know to expect. They hadn't visited this area all that often while Alexei was plotting his master plan. He snapped out of his thoughts as Rita spoke up again, "We should check it out anyway."

He took that as his cue to open up the door. Raven wrapped the purple fabric of his coat around his right hand, before bending down on one knee and grabbing the handle of the entrance. It was still hot, even through the fabric. He bit onto his bottom lip as he turned the handle with some difficulty, before something in the knob snapped, releasing the tension.

"Woah!" Raven exclaimed, leaping backwards as the door swung up into the air, wavered around for a bit, before crashing down onto the sand. There was an immediate dust cloud. The sand burned at his eyes and lungs and although he knew it was futile, Raven coughed and tried to cover his eyes. However, it was already too late, he'd be digging the tiny grains of rock from his eyes for a week and he'd be coughing it up for perhaps twice that long.

It only took a few minutes for the sand to settle, although it felt so much longer. Now, they all stood around the black hole that seemed to have opened up in the earth. It was rather foreboding and creepy, and no one seemed to want to go in. Honestly, the archer couldn't blame them, the last time he'd been here, that passageway had been lit.

"I'm...I'm going in." Raven sought out the source of the voice, his eyes resting upon the little pink haired healer. He watched, rather amazed by her audacity as she approached the entrance. But, by the way she was trembling he would have to say that she was frightened by the passage. Did she think they were going to make her go in alone?

"Wait, you can't go in alone!" The had-been mage yelled, reaching up and grabbing the princess's shoulder, spinning her around to face her. Raven could see the fire in the girl's eyes as she warned her friend of the obvious. But her concern was certainly adorable "It could be dangerous, we have no idea what could be in there!"

"Rita's right." Karol announced, he too walking to the girls and looking up at them reassuringly. Raven agreed with the boy, and on more than one thing, the little lady certainly shouldn't go in alone, and they had no idea what was in there. Raven's eyes narrowed as he recalled Alexei's caution of the elite, always so careful not to get on their bad side... Raven snapped out of his musings, barely catching on to the last part of Karol's statement, "We need to go in together."

"Well, someone has to go in first." The archer smiled, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back slightly, feeling rather mischievous. With everyone's eyes on him, he figured he might as well try to dissolve some of the tension and keep everyone from getting too suspicious of his silence. He'd tell them everything after he confirmed his suspicions here, "Why not you, Karol?"

"Me?" Karol asked, taken aback. Raven kept an eye on the boy as he stopped for a moment, seeming to dwell on the thought. The arched smiled to himself as the boy shook his head and looked up in determination. The boy had grown up a little, and Raven figured he might as well respect whatever plan he came up with. "Okay. I'll go in first. Rita, you follow me, and then Estelle, Repede and Raven."

"Oh...alright." His eye swung over to Estelle lazily, she had definitely just agreed to the plan half-hardheartedly. Had she really been that anxious to go on in first, or did she feel like she should have been the first to go in? Either way, there wasn't anything he could do about it, he wasn't Yuri by any means.

"Why do I have such a bad feeling about this..." Raven sighed as the mage spoke up. She wasn't the only one feeling queasy. After all, they were about to brave a place that even Alexei avoided, and that could only mean one thing. There was something there that Alexei himself had been terrified of, despite the promise of the lacrime technology.

* * *

><p>The passage was small and musty and Karol didn't care much for it, but their curiosity had drawn them into this place. Clearly, they weren't thinking, and, as he had noticed, everyone seemed fine with the idea of breaking and entering into this passage. There was so many what ifs that countered their logic that he thought that it would take him all day to go through them all. This was such a bad idea, why was he doing this again?<p>

Repede sneezed from his left, and Karol swung the light down to look at the dog. Repede gave him a look, before sniffing at the air again and gluing his nose back to the ground. Karol, curious, pointed his light down at the dusty floor. There was a clean wipe that ran along the floor, with consistent footprints on either side of it, as if someone had dragged a something down the passage.

That was rather strange. What the hell had Yuri got himself into? Raven seemed to know something about it but he hadn't told them anything on the subject. Over the last three days on their way here, the archer had remained rather quiet while Rita and Estelle had informed them on what was going on, Yuri's strange behavior, and some of the other unusual things they had came across.

Karol thought it was curious enough that Estelle had left the castle so easily, her words being that she left to search for Yuri on a gut feeling that something was wrong. Personally, he felt it was almost as if she was running from something inside the castle but wasn't telling anyone about it. He hoped that she realized that it wouldn't be that easy...

The boy looked back, Rita and Estelle walked together. And even in the dim light he could see their two completely different expressions on their faces, Estelle looked worried, Rita looked conflicted. Was Rita hiding something too? The archer was in the back, walking at a leisurely pace with his arms crossed up behind his head.

A few minutes later Repede stopped, halting the procession behind him. Karol walked up beside him, raising the light to better see whatever Repede saw. Another trapdoor, much like the one outside. His fingers brushed the cool metal, noticing the lack of dust on it. The door had been opened recently, very recently, but Karol really doubted he could open it.

That didn't stop him from trying though.

A few moments later Raven had wrestled the door open while Karol sat back and nursed his injured pride. The archer gave a mighty grunt as the door screeched loudly and swung open. Karol flinched as the door crashed against the metal. Everyone there would know that they were there now, and if not they needed to get their ears checked. Eerie blue light illuminated them all, bestowing upon them a sense of doom.

Okay, it wasn't that bad, but it sounded cool.

The archer had leapt down into the space below before anyone could say anything. Karol bit his bottom lip to keep from crying out, what the heck was Raven thinking? Was he checking the area before they all went down? Even so, the boy wished that he had given them a warning before hand, that had been just a little too scary.

Raven looked up and flashed them a grin coupled with a smile, and soon, everyone had jumped down to the room below. Karol hesitated from his perch, being the last to get down, but he wasn't worried about jumping down. How would they get out, of course there had to be another exit, but... he shook his head, he wouldn't think about that right now, he thought, and jumped.

The room they were in was huge and their footsteps echoed. The wall just in front of them was immense, covered in maps and maps of the place, the legend in the right hand corner of the largest map telling them that the room they were currently in was dark blue. Karol searched it out on the map and smacked his forehead in frustration when he found it. They were apparently in a smaller room in the center of the complex.

Of course, that gave way to the question of what this place was doing here? Why would such a large building be on an island like this, why would it be built under the surface? Why was it hidden so carefully? Ad why...why would Yuri be here? Then again, after what Rita and Estelle had told them, it did make a little bit more sense.

"Argh...This place is huge!" Rita growled from behind him in annoyance as she observed the maps before them. Karol looked back at her as she placed her hands on her hips, leaning forward to glare at the maps. The boy had to suppress a giggle, it looked like she was challenging the maps to a showdown or something. He then glanced at Raven as the archer looked over the maps with a rather severe expression, a unusual look for him as the mage's irritated voice pierced the air, "we could spend days searching for him in here!"

"He's right there."

There was a moment where the world seemed to stop, and then, in a sudden fast forward everyone spun around to see Estelle staring up at the wall opposite of the maps, Repede at her side. The wall was decorated in several gigantic different sized rectangles that portrayed moving pictures, the smallest frames being about Karol's height to the largest being almost ten feet high and fifteen feet wide.

On one of the frames was showing the progression of starved people limping in a hallway, their clothes no more than rags hanging off their skeletal bodies as strangely dressed men ferried them from one room to another with whips, treating them as if they were animals. Another frame showed a glimpse of a room larger than the one they were in, filled with strange tubes, weird monsters suspended in a yellow liquid, bubbles rising periodically. And yet on another screen was a small child with red hair tied down to a table, screaming as several syringes were shoved into her in a strange white room.

Karol felt his mouth go dry and his stomach flip, what the hell was with that brutality? How could people do that to other people? What the hell was this place? He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that he wanted to stop it. Of course, there could be so much more behind this than what they were seeing, but he honestly didn't care.

Karol's eyes drifted over the panes, a feeling much like a rock in his stomach especially prevalent. He didn't see Yuri. The boy looked back over to Estelle, following her eyes to a bigger pane on the far right. Sure enough, there he was, laying motionless on a white stone floor.

* * *

><p>Damn, that really hurt. Not that he was entirely sure what hurt, he just knew that it hurt. A lot. The world around him looked as if it was an oil painting, all the colors mixed and fluid like paint. He felt ill, like he should throw up but there was nothing to throw up. Well, there really wasn't, he hadn't eaten in three days or more. Now that he thought about it, he was starving...<p>

The world around him slowly came into focus, the white room that surrounded him, the warm concrete floor beneath him, the strange buzzing that echoed off the massive walls of the entirely white, domed room. Yuri felt his body tingling as he forced himself to roll over onto his back, blinking slowly as he stared up at the blindingly white ceiling, the lights shining in his eyes.

The swordsman sluggishly threw his arm over his face to block the lights and turned his head to the side, his cheek touching the arm concrete floor. He looked around the room, noticing and taking note of the sleek white patches in the walls that differed in texture than the surrounding stone. He wondered if the texture between the walls was the only difference.

He forced himself up, still very dizzy, feeling as if his mind was on an invisible roller coaster as the world around him spun violently. He would have licked his lips if his tongue and mouth had not been so dry. Great, he was starved and dehydrated, things kept getting from bad to worse. He would have asked himself if things could get any worse, but he knew that that was a silly question, of course things were going to go bad.

"Glad to see you're awake." Elydor's distinct annoying voice echoed across the large dome as Yuri leaned against the wall for support. The swordsman looked around, seeking out the source of the voice along the walls. His eyes caught a reflection of light, a window, about thirty feet up and opposite of him. Yuri felt his eyes narrow as he caught sight of the ratlike Elydor standing just in front of the window as he continued his statement, "You know what happens next right?"

Yuri ignored him, swaying in place as he tried to stand without the aid of the wall, his breathing labored. He couldn't see a way out of this one, he had no weapon, he couldn't talk, and could barely breathe. He was hardly a swordsman without a sword, just as a mage was nothing without magic, at this moment, he couldn't hardly defend himself against anything.

"This time the final game begins. One for survival. Think of it like chess. Except there is one major difference, there is one pawn against a king and his entire army." Great, now what was that lunatic raving on about? Another game? The swordsman made his way to the center of the room, doing his best to observe his surroundings whilst Elydor spoke on, "This is all a game, you're the pawn and I'm the king."

Wait, what?

What had he missed? He hadn't heard half of what Elydor had said, except for the lines about him being awake, knowing what was happening next, the final game like chess and the pawn and the king statement. Now what was Elydor pitting him against? His entire army? Somehow, he doubted that. Elydor's army was full of strange magic casters much like Ravk had somehow been, little good for hand to hand combat.

Something clattered to the ground below Elydor's window. A sword? Yuri blinked and glared at it in suspicion, the silver metal reflecting the constant light in this sickeningly pure white room that surrounded him. Sighing to himself, as he knew what was coming next, he made his way over to the weapon that had been provided for him.

Yuri ran his fingers over the cheaply done handle, wrapped in hide and the feeble blade. This sword would do little good against more powerful enemies, hell, it might break if he struck it too hard against bone. It was no Flamberge, but this little weapon would have to do for now. At the very least, it was better than nothing.

Well, Yuri figured he was ready now. Or at least as ready as he would get, they weren't going to give him any gels or any bottles. And never mind the fact that he was starving, dehydrated and could really use a bath... Well, he was going to get all bloody, sweaty and dirty again anyway, so what was one more day without a dunk in water?

Anyway... what kind of monster would he fight today? Another golem? Perhaps a horde of bats like the time before last? Or maybe even a pack of wolves like the third time he had fought in Elydor's strange game. Whatever it was he was to fight, he just hoped that he had enough energy to fight, his body was weak enough as it was that if he wasn't ever vigilant, he would be killed.

Yuri heard rumbling,and turned to see the sleek white walls opening like a portcullis, showing a large black hallway from which he could hear screams and monsters shrieking from within the abyss. He prepared himself the best he could, although he knew that there would be only so much he could do in his current state.

Something lumbered out from the darkness, something so monstrous that the swordsman could only stare. It had freakishly long limbs and body, hunched over and chest close to the ground, its arms crawling along like a spider. There was spines coating its back and protruding from its knees and elbows. Its skin looked as if it were rotting or decomposing, and it smelled like it too.

"Isn't it marvelous?" Elydor's annoying laugh echoed from above, as the man threw his arms up in the air around him proudly. Yuri didn't pay him much mind, his eyes fixated on the monster in front of him, that flailed around as though it were pain, making strange hissing and quiet shrieking noises, "This is my first pawn, I call it...Esnek!"

Esnek, huh? Too bad he didn't have some magic lenses... He honestly didn't have any idea how to defeat this thing. A moment passed in which Esnek turned its head and looked at him, its eyes white and bugging out of its head, a lack of a nose and a pair of pincers that covered a spiny hole where a mouth should have been. The scariest thing was that the monster looked as though it had once been human.

Esnek shrieked with a pitch that could have shatter glass bottles, Yuri gasped in pain and automatically brought his hands to his ears and covered them, hunching over in pain as his ears rang. He could still hear the monster's shriek even with his ears covered. Damn that noise was painful, so painful that suddenly his right ear felt as though it was in immense pain.

He screamed as he suddenly felt as though his right ear had been ripped off and blood coated his hand from where he had tried to block the sound. His eardrum had ruptured, and by god it hurt like hell. Yuri hadn't realized how much noise he had actually made until his eyes passed over Esnek. The creature was staring at him intently, moving its body to fully face him.

By the time he was up on his feet again and cupping the side of his head where his eardrum had ruptured to stop the blood, he saw Esnek looking at him curiously, its pincers feeling the air. Suddenly, the monsters white eyes went red and it hissed again. Yuri had a bad feeling as the monster moved its limbs about restlessly.

Then, it charged.

* * *

><p>This desert was killing them. Why on earth had he taken this trip? For justice, for righteousness? No; he thought irritably as he wiped yet more sweat from his brow; no, he had not came out here for any of the noble reasons, no matter what he told himself. He hadn't came here to arrest the criminal and take him to justice properly, that just happened to be part of it. He had came here to confirm if Yuri was the criminal he was after.<p>

But, just getting into Elydor's mansion; house, structure, whatever the elite called their bases; was proving to be quite a challenge. He had yet to find proof of any structures out here, there was nothing, absolutely nothing but sand, more sand, some sky, more sky, and the occasional wildlife that his troop and he came across. But other than the random plants and the shy yet rare animals, this desert was absolutely deserted. There wasn't even any monsters out here.

And that was creepy enough for the knights; who were so used to having constant awareness of most monsters that could be nearby; and now they had nothing out here. There was no monster to attack from behind while they made fires or fixed weapons. Now, they were paranoid, glancing over their backs constantly and whispering together over curses and the spirits and the like. He found it a little ridiculous, but, still completely understandable.

Flynn stared intently at the hole in the ground. This...was the entrance? He highly doubted it, but all of his sources said that Elydor's mansion should have been right here...yet the only thing here was a black hole in the sand and an iron door laying to the side, showing it to be an entrance. He was rather nervous as he knew that his logic was flawed, if even slightly.

Okay, so, he was breaking and entering in order to apprehend a criminal that had already been captured by another official just to see if the criminal was or was not his best friend. It was a stupid idea and he knew it, although he may not want to admit to it. After all, he was dealing with one of the most powerful people in the empire. It would be foolhardy to charge into the man's base for no legal reason...

Yet that was exactly what he was doing. He gave the order for his men to follow him as he jumped through the hole and into the dank passage. There had been recent travel through it, he could tell by the footprints in the dusk and the strange markings though it, like someone had been dragged through here. Flynn shook his head, he'd worry about that later.

It didn't take them long to reach another opened door in the floor, this time, the commandant ordered a few of his men to stand guard in the passage while the rest of them descended even further into Elydor's fortress. He landed first, followed soon by his second in command and the rest of the troop. They didn't even pause for a moment's worth of recuperation, instead, instantly checking out the surrounding area.

Flynn smiled to himself, impressed by his soldiers alertness, although he was rather curious why there were simply standing in place and staring around with looks of horror on their faces. A sudden horrid thought occurred to him, what if they had walked right into a trap? No, he would have heard something by now, a witty remark or an alert of some sort.

The commandant glanced up to see what had his knights so captivated. His blue eyes widened, his jaw dropped as he suddenly felt as though a cool breeze had passed through, the feeling of a stone sinking to to the pit of his stomach as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing. "I...I can't believe this."

* * *

><p>AN: Another one done and out of the way~ And I have a question for you all~ What are your biggest questions concerning this story? What are the things you want to find out the most? Please tell me. Most of the time I keep a written record of everything, including things I'll reveal later on and when and how, but sometimes I forget some subtle things that become plot holes or I read right over it, ect. So, tell me some of the things that keep you interested in this story. I'd like to hear what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, ect. :)

**_"This place is like a maze and whats with these strange gems?"_**

**_"RPT... wait a second, that seems awfully familiar..." _**

**_ "Who exactly are you, and why are you helping me?" _**

Next Time: The Separation : Elydor II : Normal


	19. The Separation : Elydor II : Middle

A/N: Wowieeee, this is late. Late late late. I am so terribly sorry! I got sick with a terrible disease I'm sure you all know well, it's called procrastination, and it doesn't let me do my work when I know I need to... jk, I'm just a lazy ass... Sorry... ^^'

Anyway, I put quite a bit of effort into this chapter, I hope you enjoy. :)

* * *

><p>The wind offered little resistance as he flew across the large open room, crashing into the stone wall. Yuri gasped on an intake of breath in pain, feeling his already half dead body break even further, if that was possible, before the strange feeling of falling registered in his somewhat blank mind. Somehow, in this process of getting the shit beat out of him, something in his brain had began to tell him that he was going to die if he didn't do something soon.<p>

It wasn't even panicked, on the contrary, the voice was calm and collected. It was like it was informing him of the daily Zaphias news, as if there was nothing to be worried about. The voice in his head made it sound like that it was somehow in his power to defeat this monster, and live. He was beginning to think that he was slowly but surely going insane.

He crashed into the pavement, feeling as if he were an egg that had been thrown to the ground. He rather did not want to move again, perhaps if he laid here unmoving on the concrete, Esnek would make his death quick. Yuri no longer believed he possessed the strength to fight this thing, and was well on the verge of giving up. He'd let that monster eat him alive.

At that moment, clear as a bell, the memory from Bluebell meadow struck him. He remembered everything. The elite's words, the woman's words, their voices, his surroundings, the bark grating on his skin and through his clothes as he eavesdropped... It was all so clear, the fog that had clouded everything there had been lifted. There had been so many important details that he had forgotten, perhaps that had led to some of his reckless over confidence.

Breathing harshly as he pushed himself from the cold, hard ground before the monster that clicked its pinchers together rhythmically, as if trying to decided whether it should eat him or not. His head throbbing from the pain of his ruptured eardrum as he blindly reached for the handle of the blade he had been gifted, the swordsman did his best to think of some sort of plan. Besides, he couldn't die. Not here, not now. He still had several more of the Elite to kill, his vigilantism wasn't quite done yet...

His body swaying as he tried to keep himself upright and fighting the lightheartedness that came with it, he cast a firmer grip on the blade and evaluated Esnek. His dry throat ached in pain with every breath he took and his body protested every movement he made. This wasn't his day, and hadn't been for the past week or so. But there was no way in hell that he was going to die here like this. Even so, there wasn't any way he could fight this monster on his own in his current state.

Wait... he did have the means to win this battle.

He looked up at Esnek from under his bangs, his eyes full of malicious intent as an evil smile spread across his face. Of course, it was all so simple. A strange yet all too familiar feeling of bloodthirsty giddiness seemed to rush through his veins as his monstrous smile widened to the point of an insane grin. Why...why hadn't he thought of this before? He did have the means to win this hopeless battle. A hoarse laugh which quickly evolved into crazed cackling echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls that surrounded him.

Of course. He did have the means to win this battle. So, perhaps that was also part of that woman's game. She had given him the means to achieve the ends. Hah, he couldn't stop laughing, no matter how much it tore at his throat. He watched the monster hesitate to attack, as his mind proceed to further deteriorate. He would rather not, but, in light of the situation... No...

Who was he kidding? Honestly, he really didn't give a fuck anymore.

Yuri felt as though he was being frozen from the inside as his skin caught fire, no, he could see the flames on his skin. He looked down at his hand, his vision now dying everything in shades of red. Haha, this feeling. He knew this feeling all too well. Every time he was overtaken by this, he completely lost any sanity he had retained. Good thing he didn't care anymore.

He glanced up at Esnek as the creature was in mid-attack, but it seemed as though the creature had been slowed down by something. He smirked, not that it mattered. Readying the blade in his hand, savoring the feeling of the cheap coarse hide against his palms as he ran towards the laggard monster. He could hear the sounds of his footsteps as he raced across the stone floor, feel the solid ground through his boots. He stopped for a split second in front of Esnek, before compacting himself towards the ground then springing back up in a powerful leap. The air was again whizzing past his ears, and yet this time, it didn't bother him in the slightest.

He was now above Esnek and beginning to descend. Yuri raised his arms far above his head to prepare for the final blow. He could feel his muscles stretching and contracting as his cradled the cheap sword in both hands. The swordsman could also feel the power gathering inside of him, and felt his confidence rise.

Esnek looked up towards him as he attacked, and for a moment Yuri felt as though his heart might stop beating as the familiar face of a woman momentarily replaced Esnek's disfigured countenance.

His blade cut through Esnek's flesh like butter, easily severing the head of the monster from its body. Blood sprayed from the open wound as Yuri further descended through the air. In the moments before he hit the ground he could see the body sway as it bled out. Esnek's head crashed to the ground just in front of him, painting the ground red in a gruesome bloody display.

Yuri landed, curling his body to help absorb the impact of his landing. Before him Esnek's body crashed to the ground loudly, creating a wind that ruffled the swordsman's hair. But he didn't care, he didn't even pay any attention to the insanity as it melted away as he stood in one place, the blood dripping off the cheap sword he had been granted.

What...what had that been?

What had he just seen?

His confusion was interrupted by Elydor's nasal and annoying laughter as a window opened up on the dome wall a good thirty feet from where Yuri stood. The swordsman ignored him and focused his gaze on Esnek as it bled out, why had he seen a woman's face the moment before he had cut the monster down? Was it his conscious? He didn't understand what was going on here, why...why was he being forced to fight?

"What's the point of this, Elydor?" Yuri yelled suddenly, forgetting how dry his mouth and throat were. His yell came out little more than a rasp, but it was still painful, prompting him to grab at his throat and double over. Suddenly, it was as if his mind registered that he was not invincible and the effects of his earlier insanity wore off.

Suddenly his body felt heavy again and he struggled to stay standing. He craved water, he knew he needed it, and soon. He would die if he didn't have water, and soon. He could feel his greasy, unwashed hair and bloody and dirtied body. Oh goodness, he must have been quite the sight at this moment, and rather unattractive.

How the hell was he finding humor in his current situation?

He could hear Elydor speaking, but he was no longer listening to him, instead he searched the room for a way out before the annoying Elite realized it. He could dwell on Esnek and the curse later, but right now he knew he had to escape and find some damn water. The swordsman moved slowly along the wall, using it as a support.

"...and now, as your next opponent..." Elydor's voice was clear and loud, alerting Yuri to the next challenge. The swordsman stopped as the slightest hints of panic began to build in his stomach, looking up at the elite with detestation. The portcullis gate from earlier rumbled, alerting Yuri to the next monster. He looked over to it as it slowly rose, barely listening to Elydor as he announced its presence, "...this one is called Tercel, he's very pleased to meet you."

The monster was soon visible, and with its gruesome appearance came a rather disgusting smell. A bald, naked and curved body with gray flesh. Its head was shaped like a pyramid laying on its side, with two beady black eyes in sunken eye holes on either side of its head and thin stretched lips that curved around the pointed beak like structure. The creature had no nose, merely a slit on its beak. There were holes on the top of its head on the opposite sides of it, Yuri assumed that the holes functioned as ears. It had a long bony and spiny neck that connected to a thin curved body, with two huge wings that sprouted out of the monsters back. On the front side of the body, two clawed limbs reached out from

the chest and another two clawed limbs reached out from the hips. Much like Esnek, the back had prominent spines that descended between the wings to the tailbone and continued, functioning much like a tail.

What the hell, another one?

* * *

><p>Rita blew out a harsh breath as they ventured further into the strange compound that they knew little to nothing about. Repede was just in front of her, leading the way and sniffing the ground every few feet. She cast her eyes behind her, watching as Estelle stayed directly behind her, Karol listened to Raven as the older man explained what this place was. The mage blew out a harsh breath, honestly she couldn't care less what this place was, all she knew is that whatever they were doing here, they were doing it wrong.<p>

Of course, there was a strange intake of mana in this place. It bothered her, the strange gems that lit their path, throbbing with some kind of life, with a cadence similar to a human heart. They didn't seem to be all that similar to a blastia, or perhaps they were and she wasn't aware of the similarities yet,. She needed to study one of these things... yet, she figured that taking one from the wall might set off an alarm, so, for the time being she restrained herself.

Before her, Repede hesitated. Left or right? Rita glanced down at the hastily drawn map on the back of her hand, the control room they had landed in marked with a smooth O and the room Yuri had been seen in marked with a sharp X. According to the map, they needed to go left. The mage made a move to descend that way when she heard Karol groan loudly from behind her.

"This place is like a maze..." The boy sighed, stopping in the back. Rita huffed in irritation as the rest of the party stopped to glance back at the boy. They did realize that they were on a pretty tight schedule, right? Annoyed, the mage too looked back at the brunette as he stared intently at the green gem imbedded in the wall, "...and what is with these strange gems?"

Hm.

It seemed she wasn't the only one befuddled by the weird glowing light source.

"I know it is strange..." She began almost immediately after the boy finished his statement, in hopes of cutting any further discussion over the gems off. It might have been rude, but, she knew they needed to keep moving if they were going to catch up to their idiot swordsman. Besides, she thought with a slight smirk as she peeked at Estelle, their little princess looked as though she was dancing in place with impatience. "...but we don't have time to be discussing this."

"Ah, yeah, sorry Rita." Karol replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as they began to move at a steady pace once more. He trotted past Raven and Estelle and up to Rita's side, much to her confusion. Did he think that she might hear him better if he was by her side or something? "I was just a little curious."

"What do you have to be sorry for?" She asked him with a huff, besides, she was more than 'a little' curious. This mystery was driving her nuts, but she had already opted not to think about it until Estelle's problem had been taken care of. With that in mind, she huffed and walked ahead of the brunette boy, before yelling back at everyone,"Anyway, lets get going."

* * *

><p>This monster was stronger than Esnek.<p>

Much stronger.

Yuri did his best to dodge the flying monsters devastating attacks, but of course, in his current state, his best was hardly anything at all. Many times he just narrowly avoided getting skewered on the bird-like monsters talons. The swordsman stumbled back again as Tercel went into a dive, his beak cutting through any resistance. Yikes, if that thing hit him, he was screwed. He end up rather hole-y... No, now wasn't the time to try and be witty.

He needed to live, despite what his battered body and broken bones told him. His parched throat and hollow body didn't seem to agree with him as every step became even more of a struggle. He wouldn't, couldn't, last much longer. He felt that at any moment, his legs would give out. And after that happened, he was screwed.

There was a searing pain at his left arm, he quickly glanced over at it. He could see the monster's talons wrapped around his arm and embedded in his skin. He tightened his grip on the cheap sword and swung it up, ready to hack at the monsters legs. Suddenly, he felt a draft, and a powerful tug at his arm as the monster took flight.

Yuri ground his teeth together to help keep himself from screaming. He felt as though his arm was getting ripped off as the bird-like monster flew around the room, doing its best to disorient him. It was doing a damn good job, however, he did not want to give in that easily.

Ignoring the feeling of nothing beneath his feet and knowing that panicking would do him little good, Yuri did his best to remain calm. Doing his best to disregard his dizziness and his pain, he tried to make out his surroundings. They were pretty high up, perhaps almost to the window from where Elydor observed his battles.

A thought came to him.

Yuri smirked, and with some effort, forced his sword arm against the wind and up near his head, quickly transferring the handle to his mouth. It tasted bitter and gross but he didn't dwell on that too long. His right hand, now free, reached over to where the monster was gripping his shoulder and grabbed hold of the thin fleshy area just above the talons.

Now that he was sure he wouldn't fall to his death, the dark haired swordsman took one moment to pray that his crazy plan would work, and then, jerked his head to the left. The sword that he held in his mouth sliced through Tercel's fleshy talons and into his left arm. Then, before either he or Tercel could recognize the pain he jerked his head up, the blade in his mouth following suite. It emerged from his shoulder and drew a thin red line up the monsters leg.

Tercel shrieked, arching his body back and coming to almost a complete stop as blood seeped generously from the wound, retracting his talons and releasing Yuri's left arm. The swordsman gasped as his body all but fell, the only thing keeping him alive his grip on Tercel's leg. The monster seemed to take a moment to notice that his prey was still there, and when he did notice, he wasn't pleased.

Yuri held on for dear life as the monster flew at increasing speeds in circles, quickly loosing the blade that was in his mouth to wind resistance as the monster continued ascending up the walls. He worried for a moment, was the monster going to crash into the ceiling and kill them both? He could feel the tug on his body, on his right arm as he held on. The blood that had trailed down his neck and dried, the blood that was seeping from his shoulder from earlier when he had attacked Tercel. How much blood had he lost? This dizzying speed wasn't helping him either...

They were at the ceiling, and the monster paused. Yuri gave a breath of relief, before turning to his next daunting task. While the monster debated what to do next, Yuri, with some effort and disregarding his pain, reached up with his left arm and began to climb up the monsters leg. Perhaps that alerted Tercel to the swordsman's plan, and the monster certainly did not like it, and dove to the ground.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Yuri thought as he clung to the monsters leg, deciding that he hated dive bombing monsters. The wind ripped at his body and clothes as the monster approached ever closer to the cement. Yuri realized that Tercel had no intention of crashing, merely, he was planning on dragging Yuri across it. If that didn't kill him, he didn't know what would.

Almost as if a superhuman strength possessed him, he hoisted himself further up the leg, using the talons as a step and grabbed at the monsters spines that remained just a little out of reach. That would hoist him to the monsters back, keep Tercel from dragging him across the coarse cement. He glanced back down, they were almost there, and this time, jumped a little, his fingers grazing the spine, then wrapping around it completely.

Yes!

Suddenly, his equilibrium was completely thrown off as Tercel converted his dive into a glide just over the cement. Dangling from Tercel's spiny back, Yuri knew that there was less than an inch or two of air between his feet and the cement. He hoisted himself to the monster's back as it started heading for the ceiling again.

Now that he was on the monsters back, he reached for his mouth, where he had put the sword...wait, where was it? A slight panic setting butterflies loose in his stomach began to settle as he desperately scoured the dome with his eyes for the blade. There it was, on the ground and out of his reach, at least, until Tercel went in for another dive.

Now that he had another plan, Yuri reached for the spine in front of him, determined to make it to the neck by the time Tercel went in for the dive. He climbed further up the bony back of the monster, avoiding the poisonous tips of the spines. They were almost back up to the ceiling, if only he could be at the neck already. He reached for the next spine in his vision, and pulled himself to it...Yes! He'd made it! He pulled himself closer to the long, thin neck, wrapping his legs around the fleshy appendage. He was secure, for now.

They had reached the ceiling, and Yuri braced himself for the dizzying dive that was to follow. It felt different than the last descent had, but it wasn't any less terrifying. He was convinced that he was going to die when they hit the fucking ground, as his plan was pretty damn stupid. But there was no alternative or he was so confused by pain and dehydration that no other, better, plan had occurred to him.

Again, the monster glided only inches from the abrasive floor, an clearly not thinking straight, with his legs locked around the monsters throat, Yuri spun himself so he was on the underside of the monsters neck. His hair fell down around him like a curtain as his eyes locked upon his sword as Tercel headed straight for the wall. He would have less than a split second to grab it.

He reached out at the last second, his fingers brushing the handle, but missing it entirely. He quickly closed his fingers around the cool metal, noticing that the blade wasn't sharp enough to cut him immediately. All of his blood rushing to his head, he figured he'd better get back on the monster's back before his head smashed into the wall or something.

It was slightly difficult to climb back up the neck, as Tercel had reached that Yuri had a weapon, and began moving his head and neck around violently, interrupting his flying pattern. Shit, he didn't have time to clamor back to the monsters back... he had to do something now, before Tercel managed to get him with one of the thrashing talons.

Tightening his grip on the dull blade, Yuri gathered all of his strength, he only had this one shot, he couldn't afford for the wound to be light or shallow. Arching himself back, positioning the pommel at his chest, the swordsman took a deep breath. This was going to hurt no matter how he pulled it off, he figured he just might as well get it over with.

Hus thrust his chest forward, using the force of his entire body to shove the blade into the bottom of Tercel's neck. It sunk right through the monster's flesh, going through until the hilt prevented further penetration. The monster roared as its blood soaked Yuri's blade, twisting and thrashing in midair. Suddenly, it began to fall, still thrashing violently.

Realizing that he was probably going to die either way, Yuri released himself from Tercel's body. He only figured that it probably wasn't the smartest idea after a few moments of free falling. He could see the monster writhing viciously as it went down, any part of it, a talon, its tail, could smash right in to him and end him. For the moment, there was a slight rush of adrenaline.

He saw the attack moments before he felt it.

Like he had predicted just seconds ago, Tercel's writhing had indeed inflicted injury on him as the underside of the monsters tail slammed into his chest. He went flying towards the wall, and for the second time in one day, crash into the wall. The next part seemed to happen slowly, as he fell towards the ground, landing with a solid thump just a moment later.

All of the pain, all of the agony, the dehydration, everything that he had ignored in order to survive, hit him, all at once. If Yuri could have screamed, he would have, but his throat was far too dry. He was not invincible, far from it. No matter what his crazy head wanted him to believe, he was nothing more than a mortal. He had been crazy to think he could do this alone.

Now, in this moment, he wished he had told her...

His eyes glazed over and he could feel his body starting to get cold, was this what it was like to die? It didn't matter all that much anymore, he just knew that this time, he had seriously failed his friends, Brave Vesperia, Flynn, the world, Estelle. And as darkness closed in on his still, bleeding form, he mouthed two words...

"I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>Elydor could only stare in disappointment at the two bodies that lay in his testing chamber. Up until the boy had been smashed against the wall by Tercel, he had thought that somehow, that perhaps the boy could have fought yet another one of his creations. What a foolish thought, although the boy had pulled off extraordinary feats of monstrous strength during his battle with Esnek, he was still human, still mortal.<p>

A week or so without food and water combined with strenuous activity would kill anyone. Honestly, he should be impressed that the boy had lasted as long as he did. Normal people wouldn't have lasted nearly as long. He narrowed his eyes and cast his eyes to the boys body, he would have his coroners investigate the body, see if there was anything...off about his system and biology in any way.

The mad scientist glanced down to the keyboard in front of him and lightly pressed a large blue button. Immediately, the window before him was covered in moving pictures of areas all throughout the compound, prison cells, laboratory area's, a few key hallways, and of course his control room. Wait, why was his control room empty? It should, at all times, have a few guards and a few of his scientists in the room.

Why was there imperial guards in his hallways?

They were on to him, that could be the only explanation... Heh, he would have to deal with him in his own way. After all, now that they had seen what was here, they could never be allowed to leave while alive. He turned to the guards at the door and motioned to the camera behind him, finishing his silent statement with a wave of his hand.

They understood him, and left him alone in the observation room.

Elydor glanced over his shoulder at the body in the testing room, allowing himself one last disappointed sigh before turning away completely and leaving his observation room.

* * *

><p>Already, the horror that he felt in this place was beginning to become ineffective. At this point, he expected nothing more than inhumane sights. And they had only been in this place for a few hours, across two prisons that were nearly abandoned except for the corpses and the rats. They had also stumbled across a destroyed laboratory-reminiscent room.<p>

Perhaps it was too much, and he simply couldn't take it all in, and as a defense, his brain had told him to stop reacting in such a horrified manner every time he saw something gruesome. It was probably for the best, if he had kept reacting like he had been, he was going to have a heart attack. That was the last thing he wanted to happen.

At the moment, they were exploring an laboratory after quickly knocking some of Elydor's men out so they wouldn't raise the alarm. Karol was more surprised by just how lax security had proven to be, they had entered through the control room, and there hadn't been a single guard there! The halls were mostly empty, only thrice had they had to deal with any sort of sentry. And every time, the sentries had been ridiculously easy to defeat.

One of the glass tubes caught his eyes, sparking his curiosity, the boy couldn't help but move closer to examine the glassware. He hesitated to touch it, as it might be booby-trapped. Or he was being paranoid. But it mattered little whether or not he was being paranoid or not, it was just wise not to touch the enemies things too much. Especially since you never knew what might happen. He squinted his eyes and leaned towards the glass, catching a slight etching in the bottom corner.

"RPT... wait a second, that seems awfully familiar..."

* * *

><p>Flynn marched bravely, if somewhat foolishly, down through the center of Elydor's main hallway. As he was here on political business, he saw no need to sneak around, that was disregarding the fact that they had snuck in the first place. The guards parted cautiously in the commandant's wake, a nice group of his knights following behind him, perfectly in step.<p>

He had explored most every part of this god-forsaken place that was currently accessible. He had not seen any new doors or any unfamiliar hallways yet. Flynn was beginning to get the feeling that the building could rearrange itself. It was a preposterous idea, but the map on the wall had portrayed a much larger compound than the one he and his men currently wandered around in.

He was getting annoyed with this. He glanced back at his men and jerked his head upwards, a silent command for them to interrogate Elydor's guards, at least as much as they would allow. He couldn't afford to get on their bad side's too quickly. He sighed, his eyes drifting across the hallways before him, catching a glimpse of a taller man darting across it.

Without thinking, as though someone else had taken control of him, Flynn darted down the hallway almost noiselessly, after the figure. He stopped at the juncture he had last seen the man at and quickly glanced around, taking in his surroundings. He knew he had seen something- there he was, at the end of the hall! The commandant, not even hearing the protests of his men and Elydor's guards, gave chase. What the hell was he doing?

Gasping for breath at the T cross section, Flynn glanced down the left hall and the right hall, now noticing the tall man at the end of the right hall. The blonde took off after the man as he turned and began to move out of sight, determined to catch up with him. This time he turned at the juncture of which the man had turned previously. The process repeated itself several more times as he ran after the mysterious figure.

Finally, he saw the man standing in front of a blank wall, one that Flynn himself had passed by earlier. He was tall and broad, with short red hair that could catch any man's eye. Flynn's sapphire eyes met deep indigo as the man looked over his shoulder, before reaching out with his right hand, grabbing at the wall and pressing a slightly protruding brick back into the wall, as it seemed it should have belonged.

The wall shook, making the entire building shake as a crack began to form in the wall. With a sound that was a lot like rocks being grinded together, the crack grew wider. The red haired man stood back in disinterest, now just behind him, Flynn could only stare in amazement as the walls pulled away and revealed another, if narrow, hidden hallway.

He was snapped back into reality at the sounds of his soldier's calling for him and running through the halls, looking up just in time to see the man leaving. Flynn spun around to face him, so many questions racing through his mind. Before the man could vanish out of sight, the blond commandant yelled his questions, "Who exactly are you, and why are you helping me?"

The silence was his only answer.

* * *

><p><strong>"So...it was you, after all..."<strong>

**"How naive. What is it do think this, that this world runs on? Mana? Aer? Lacrime? No, no, its money This world is ran by money!"**

**"Now is when the real game begins..."**

Next Time: _The Separation : Elydor III : Final_


	20. The Separation : Elydor III : Final

A/N: Woowie! I had this one done days ago! I'm ahead on the chapters right now. :D So, without further ado, here it is!

* * *

><p>The blond commandant wasted no time in blocking the guard's attack, feeling a little smug as he did so. It seemed that Elydor was tired of this friendly facade, and was finally opting to attack him openly. Either way Flynn didn't care anymore, all he cared about at this point was getting to Elydor, and taking the murderer off of the Elite's hands. And if it was Yuri... well, he didn't want to think about that too much, he'd deal with that when the time came.<p>

The blonde ducked the next blow his opponent dealt, sliding his right foot across the floor and bending his left knee, then stiffened his right leg and leapt upwards, stabbing his enemy squarely in the chest. The guard gurgled as some blood leaked from his clothes onto Flynn's highly decorative blade, before slumping forward, dead. The commandant didn't waste anytime, sliding the blade from the guard's chest before blocking another blow aimed for his back.

Flynn shoved forward, pushing his attacker back. His opponent stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet before falling back against the wall. Flynn took advantage of his enemies misfortune, leaping forward and impaling the poor guard on his sword. The man's face contorted from terror to pain, looking up at Flynn weakly as the life left his eyes.

He hesitated, feeling regret at being forced to kill his own. These men too, were part of the knights, the best of the best, assigned under the Elite for protection. It was their job to obey and protect the elite from assassins and bandits while traveling. It seemed that in recent years, they had been serving the elite in many different ways.

During his musings he had remained still, observing the corpse of the man he'd just slain. Flynn withdrew his blade, then turned around, at the ready to fight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw another one of the guards about to run him through. Flynn's eyes widened, as his heartbeat sped up in panic. He'd never be able to block it in time!

Suddenly, someone was standing in between him and the guard. The newcomer blocked the guard's attack, deflected it, and in one fell moment, had sliced his attacker's chest open. The guard fell to the ground, dead as Flynn's savior looked over her shoulder at him.

"Commandant," She said icily her serious expression backing her words. She blocked another attack, throwing the guard off after a moment's struggle and then swiftly slit his throat before looking back at her beloved. He blinked, a little surprised by her ruthlessness on the battlefield as she spoke again, "You should be more careful. Don't take your focus off the battle for even a minute."

Of course she was right. Even if these men were knights, they were trying to kill them right now. Flynn had no reason to hesitate, but it kill or be killed in this world. He looked over at his knights, all of them fighting bravely, not hesitating in the least. These men would follow him to hell and back. And they had turned the battle to their favor. Soon, they would venture further into the labyrinth that was Elydor's compound. Hopefully, they would soon find the man they were looking for.

* * *

><p>Rita snarled as she dodged another fireball, before glancing over at the men at the doorway. How the hell were they casting magic? The ways of magic had disappeared with the blastia, and now, humans were incapable of using mana like they had once used aer. There was no object to translate the mana to power, at least known to the public or even to the mages of New Aspio.<p>

How were they casting magic? It was impossible! And highly annoying to know that they were using her favorite spell against her and she had no way to retaliate. The ex-mage ducked another one of the flaming balls, rolling forward till she was just before her enemy, jumping to her feet and whacking the spell-caster hard over the head with her book. Her opponents eyes rolled back in his head as he swayed in place, before falling to the ground, unconscious.

Rita blinked, then cast her gaze to either side of her, noticing all of her companions were still engaged in battle, distracting the enemy from her. She smirked, deciding to take advantage of everyone's inattention. Rita fell to her knees beside the still form of her previous opponent, studying his still frame for a moment. He was young, perhaps just a year or two her senior, but she didn't care about that. Her eyes were drawn to his choker, a silver band wit ha familiar golden stone imbedded in the center of it.

She frowned and reached out, her hands slipping behind his neck and starting to work on undoing the strange choker. A few trying moments later she felt the clasp snap and the accessory loosen, sliding off the man's neck easily as Rita drew her hand away. She looked down at it, examining it underneath the light. Running her fingers over the light metal she noticed unreadable inscriptions along the edge of it.

A feeling of nostalgia washed over her as she rubbed the gem in the center of the choker, she felt like she knew this gem from somewhere before. But where? Had she came across one of these in her research once? She didn't remember... Rita bit her bottom lip as she held the choker closer to her face, trying to get a better look at the inscriptions. They were in a different language, one that resembled their own but at the same moment was completely different.

The battle behind her was ending, she could tell. Huffing slightly to herself and slightly displeased with the lack of time she possessed, she quickly pocketed the choker. She could investigate it later, once they were out of this mess that they had unwittingly got themselves into. And Yuri...oooh, he was so in for it when she got her hands on him...

Standing up and facing her companions, she dismissed their concerned faces and motioned to the door before them. They had little time to dawdle, Yuri could only last so long against whatever it was that Elydor was doing to him. He wasn't invincible after all, not matter what the smug-ass idiot told himself. She glanced at Estelle, who appeared calm and composed. She had strong faith in Yuri, and Rita could only hope that Estelle's faith was well placed.

* * *

><p>Elydor walked around the laboratory, viewing the specimens in their tubes. Most of them seemed to be in pretty good condition thus far, their skin pale and bodies still but not yet dead as the lacrime in their chests continued to throb with life and color every few seconds, in time with the beating of their hearts. He stopped at the end of the row, staring up at one particular specimen in disappointment. It seemed like this one was almost done, the throbbing of the lacrime was taking too long, several minutes passing by before another one returned.<p>

"Athanal, Qwerty," He turned around, behind him to two of his top five scientists. Athanal was thin and short, with nice blonde hair, bad skin and beautiful blue eyes. Qwerty was taller and stockier, bald and generally lacking in expression. Elydor motioned to the tube behind him as he spoke, "It seems like T-2012-V is nearing completion. Proceed with the standard operation and replace L-404-V with L-404-M."

The two of them understood the procedure, and approached the glass tube and the small keyboard at the base of the containment unit. Athanal, having smaller hands more capable of operating the machinery, immediately pushed a small, square and yellow button. The glassware separating the specimen in the preservation fluid from the scientists lighting up, portraying a message that read "Please enter procedure code".

Athanal immediately began typing, his fingers furiously moving across the keyboard in perfect time, not missing one key, interning a fifty four symbolic code before pushing the yellow button once more. The screen lit up again and there was a momentary lull, before the preservation fluid in the tube began to drain. A few moments later the specimen remained alone, preservation fluid dripping from his hair and body.

Athanal pushed a small, circular red button, opening up the tubular containment unit. Qwerty rolled up his sleeves, exposing large, muscular arms, and slid on slick rubber gloves. He then stepped forward, placing his right foot at the edge of the containment unit, before reaching into it and grabbing the specimen by the shoulders. He then gently stepped back, mindful of the specimen, carefully maneuvered the body out of the tube.

The two scientist looked at each other and nodded. The two turned, gave a little bow to Elydor, before turning away again, then left their superior alone in the massive room of specimens. Elydor didn't mind, he much preferred this silence to the bumbling crowds of incompetent fools who worked here in Rechner. People who were both highly intelligent and annoying, the kind of people he hated the most.

Pushing that thought from his mind he turned around, looking up to specimens he had stolen from Ravk's Var, before it had been swarmed with those incompetent knights and their foolish leader, Flynn Scifo. They might have been in pursuit of Suingam's killer, as they had not yet known that he had already killed Ravk too, but he cringed at the idea of what kind of permissions the Emperor would have bestowed upon the knights had they found Ravk's laboratories.

Which was part of the reason why he had to strip it of all evidence. Besides, Ravk had some highly interesting research and very valuable specimens that he, Elydor, had desired even back during the great war all those years ago. He frowned, remembering the Entelexia who had almost ruined it all for them, before turning away from the specimens coldly, and leaving the room with nothing but the silent beating of thousands of lacrime.

* * *

><p>She was crying again.<p>

Ryker didn't know what to do at this point, he had been sure that Yuri would have freed them by now, much like he had done in Var. It had been so awe-inspiring, to see him in the darkest of times. But, he had been so terrifying as well. The boy had thought that this Yuri might kill him if he moved wrong, and had remained silent and still on the floor, terrified as his savior had laughed insanely in the middle of the floor for several minutes, before being stunned by a dart. And once again, they were captured.

The blond boy shook his head, before glancing back over at Sennett. She had buried her face in her knees again, her now short red hair doing little good to hide her face as she shamelessly cried her heart out. Ryker reached out, prepared to touch her shoulder, perhaps to comfort her, but he knew it would do no good. He retracted his hand, holding it to his chest. They were stuck now, in a place worse than before.

At least at Var, they had been out in a day or so. Here, Yuri was taking way too long, and Ryker was beginning to loose hope in his hero. Perhaps, the enemy had already killed Yuri, and the two of them were never getting out. The strange courage that had possessed him at Var was already fading, and it seemed that no matter how hard that he tried to hold on to it, it only slipped through his fingertips faster.

"Sennett..." Ryker said quietly, twisting his fingers uncomfortably as he looked at her. She looked up, a sour expression on her tear-stained face, making him hesitate in slight shock. He rather disliked her when she was angry, she tended not to think and only to speak, which usually led to rather bad results. Like the night they were not allowed any food or water. Or the day they had been forced to clean the bathrooms. So, he took a moment to let her temper cool before he began to speak, "If it is not too...um, whatever you call it, why was Ravk after you?"

Whatever she had expected him to say, that certainly was not it. She blinked for a few moments, before wiping her eyes with her forearm, and then looked over at the wall blankly. She took a few minutes to speak, her voice coarse from crying, her words only a whisper, "I..I was born in Var, my parents were both prisoners of that horrible place."

Whatever Ryker had been expecting her to say, that certainly hadn't been it.

"I was only one when they put one of those lacrime things on me. My parents told me that they did it because I was special, they said I was good at magic somehow. As I got grew up, I found out that I could steal magical power, and that magical attacks did not affect me. The guards would hurt us with small lightening spells, and it never hurt me. In fact, they said I somehow stole the attacks, and if I wanted, could use them on my enemies." Sennett paused, her eyes and expression blank, "My mom helped me escape from Var, and so Ravk hunted me down to return me to that place. When I returned, I found out that they had been executed for helping me escape. That's all."

Ryker was amazed by her nonchalant attitude to their predicament. When he had first met her, she had seemed so scared of the place, he had thought that it was new to her. But now, it made sense, she had been angry, and had been crying because she had found out her mom and dad were dead. She had been frustrated, upset that she had not been able to escape permanently. He knew that feeling himself all too well.

An aluminum plate clattered to the floor just outside their cell, shocking the two children to looking outside their cage. A tall, well built guard was lying on the floor, presumably dead, with their lunch smeared all over the concrete floor. Looming over the guard was a tall figure in black, sheathing a sword at his hip before looking over to the cage, a ring of keys in his hand.

* * *

><p>What was this place? Flynn looked down the long hallway in horror, the cells before him filled with the bodies of their prisoners, some alive, but most of them long dead. Half of those bodies appeared to be decomposing, if the stench of the room did not signify that enough, their rotting skin and the puddles of waste around their bodies became a definite giveaway.<p>

His men had experienced similar reactions when they had first walked into this room, and who could blame them? They had seen a lot of gore and death on the battlefield, but none of it was quite like what they saw before them now. The battlefield and this prison were two entirely different thing. In battle, death was usually swift, here, it seemed more like torture than death.

Already, they had gone through half of the cages, and had only found three survivors. Three of the knights were taking care of them, giving them small amounts of water and food, although the prisoners begged for more. While he could understand their constant hunger, he knew they could not give them more. If fed too much too quickly, they would die. They would have to be fed little bits at regular intervals before they could take on bigger meals.

He looked back at knights as a knight carried a young girl down the aisle, she must have only been eighteen, with short brown hair and distant brown eyes. Had she been in better health, Flynn was sure she'd be beautiful, perhaps already arranged for marriage. But in this place, she was slowly dying, and even if removed from here, he wasn't sure she would live.

Kostos was the one tending to her, he was twenty six, one of the older men among these ranks, having never desired any promotions. He had been rather helpful to Flynn in his early days of the knights, someone who had kept an eye on him and his tendency to attract attention. Kostos had a young face and a light stubble of beard on his chin, hazel eyes and messy auburn hair that was rivaled by only Flynn's. The girl was in good hands.

As much as the commandant wanted to stay longer and investigate, he knew that every moment spent here, Elydor could be getting away. But, he wasn't going to let these people stay here and starve to death, or be killed by Elydor's guards in an attempt to cover-up their master's wrong-doings. Flynn thought for a moment, watching Kostos and his other knights work dutifully. An idea struck. '

"Attention." Flynn spoke out, his knights immediately giving him their full attention. He didn't wish to keep them distracted from their work too long, so, he quickly got to the point. "We are going to split up, as if we delay any longer, Elydor might try to escape. So, I'm leaving Wellis, Crewan, Allie, Mekala, Telman, Endri, Quill, Drakye, and Hanwel in Kostos's command. The rest of us shall proceed further. Are there any questions?"

"No sir!" He was rather pleased with the answer his knights had given him, and happy with his choices in knights. Wellis was a large man with a kind soul. Crewan, while he was a bit arrogant and could be annoying, was smart. Allie, while she possessed a vicious tongue had great knowledge of herbal healing. Mekala was Wellis's best friend and she was a great caregiver, which made her a great partner to Allie. Telman and Hanwel were twin brothers, both of them extremely strong, although not much in healing department, could help keep everyone defended in case of an attack. Endri quiet and never said much, but she was an extraordinary knight. Quill and Drake, the last two, a brother and sister, were the brains to Telman and Hanwel's brawn when it came to fighting. And Kostos, while he desired no post of importance, was a great leader and guide. Flynn was sure they would be fine.

Which left him with Sodia, Raithe, and Genna. Raithe, like Allie, was an herbalist, using poisons on his weapons to help slay his enemies, then using other herbs to heal his allies. Genna was swift in her attacks, but they were rarely fatal. Genna and Sodia did not seem to like each other for some reason that was foreign to the commandant, so he hoped he had made the right decision to bring her along.

They stepped out the door and into a long hallway, with another door visible at the end. Flynn had a feeling that this was it. This was the final stretch, and Elydor lay just beyond that door ahead of them. It didn't make any sense, but really, nothing had made sense in this place. He glanced back at Sodia, Raithe, and Genna, nodding once before moving down the lengthy hallway. They were almost there.

* * *

><p>Raven sighed as he rummaged through another chest, full of papers and books that made no sense to him. But he was sure that the little mage would understand these books and these papers, full of crazy little diagrams and covered in odd figures. The older man blew out a beleaguered breath as he carefully set the papers aside. He had no idea what they were looking for exactly. Ooh, an apple gel, he'd take that.<p>

He pocketed the gel and glanced over to the small mage. She was bent over a chest full of these dull gems, lacrime, she had called them, her expression like stone when she had seen them. She hadn't seemed pleased in the least when they had come across them, but had taken advantage of the moment anyway and went through them. To her left sat a pile of small, round, dull, red gems. All of them were red for whatever reason.

Repede was sniffing at the chests, Estelle just behind him. Raven had no idea what they were up to. Instead, he looked over to Karol, who sat just a little ways from him, investigating a chest full of what appeared to be every day items such as cookware, clothing, and personal care items. He was frowning, as if he was trying to remember something but couldn't.

Suddenly, there was a gasp from Estelle.

Raven looked over to see her clutching a sword to her chest, her eyes wide and face pale. He blinked and looked closer, that sword resembled Flamberge... and that sheath looked very familiar. Recognition dawned upon his features and he stood up immediately and walked to her side. She stood before a chest, and when Raven looked down, he could see a travel pack and a Tyrant Fist still in it. This was Yuri's stuff.

"Ya better get it all little Missy," Raven told her quietly, grabbing her full attention. He took note of how shaken she appeared, and how close she held the swordsman's sword to her chest. He ruffled his hair slightly, smiling a little to himself seeing her still mostly calm, before adding, "There's a hall and a room between us an him, an he's gonna want his stuff back when we find him."

She nodded, although it was more like a sharp jerk of the head than a sign of agreement, before leaning down and gathering the rest of Yuri's possessions. Raven looked over, seeing many chests just like the one that Estelle had opened minutes ago, Yuri was just another one of many here. Raven shook his head before any dark thoughts could cross it, quickly glancing over to the resident genius. She looked as though she had finally reached the bottom of the chest.

"Just like I thought." Rita announced to no one in particular, throwing the stones back into the chest. She seemed to be in a terrible mood, like usual. Raven rubbed his chin, stifling a giggle at the thought of Rita in a cactus costume. The things that crossed his mind... He looked back at the girl as she raged, flinging the stones everywhere except the chest, bitterly muttering to herself, "Useless, all of them."

"Uh, Rita, sweetheart, what are ya doin exactly?" He asked, feeling somewhat suicidal after asking as she turned around sharply, giving him a look of death. Shit, what the hell had he done now? He'd only asked about what she was trying to accomplish by throwing a fit, perhaps it was this fear of the small woman that made him add, "Throwin things around like that isn't gonna accomplish much you know..."

"I know." She hissed, a fistful of the red gems in her hand. Raven, sensing her anger wasn't directed at him, settled a little as she turned around. He listened as she continued, the disappointment evident in her voice as she threw the red gems into the chest a little more forcefully than normal. "I was just expecting something here, even though what I found tells me quite enough as it is."

Rita turned away from the chest, glancing over at Karol and then at Estelle, eying the gear that her friend held closely. Her gaze softened. "I'm sorry Estelle, we're supposed to be in a hurry yet I distracted us due to my curiosity. Let's hurry and make up for lost time."

* * *

><p>Flynn opened the door, turning the handle, before stepping into the room, his companions close behind him. The room was decently sized and barren, there was nothing and no one in here. Flynn frowned, clearly expressing his disappointment as Genna shut the door behind them. In moments, Sodia, Raithe, and Genna were surrounding him, intent on protecting him. He frowned in displeasure as he took another step forward, his eyes on his surroundings.<p>

* * *

><p>Karol opened the door before them, nervousness racing through his body. This was the last room before the room that Yuri was supposed to in. Things had gone almost too easily, and he was feeling rather suspicious of what may lay behind this door. He hoped that it would be as easy as it had been to get here. The door swung open rather easily, and the troupe filed in. The first thing they saw was the other group in the room, and Karol recognized him almost immediately. It was Flynn!<p>

* * *

><p>Almost instantly after they had entered, bars had descended upon the doors behind them, blocking their only exit. Before any small talk of conversation of any sort could be made, a cage enclosed around Estelle, Rita, Raven., Karol and Repede. When Flynn and his knights rushed over to help, a glass box appeared from nowhere and surrounded him and his knights.<p>

Estelle held Yuri's sword close, her heartbeat erratic. Of course this would happen to them when they were so close to getting to him. As for Flynn, what was he doing here? She cast her eyes over to her friend, watching him and his knights trying to vainly break out of their glass cell. She knew it wouldn't work, not this time anyway. Something in her gut let her know that this time, none of them would get out of this easily.

She glanced back at her companions, Rita seemed irritated by the sudden turn in events, and who could blame her? Karol appeared surprised, and who could honestly blame him. It wasn't everyday that a mystical cage captured them. Raven looked to be a little unsettled by the past few minutes, and quite wary of his surroundings. And Repede seemed restless, looking constantly over to the door on the other side of the room. That's where Yuri was.

Her fingertips danced over Flamberge as she held it close to her heart. She would give it to him when she found him, hand it over to him willingly and maybe, just maybe, get some answers from him. That is, if he didn't run from her like before. She sighed and shook her head, her eyes on the doorway on the other side of the room as it swung open.

Her face paled as Elydor stepped out, his little black beady eyes searching them out, his thin pale lips puled back into a creepy grin as he stepped out under the fluorescent lighting. His frame was as hunched as ever, his short, pulled back black hair was as greasy as ever. He was repulsive as ever as well, but she felt little need to add that.

"Seamus Elydor...so...it was you..after all. You're behind all of this!" Flynn yelled from her far right. Estelle glanced over to him as the leader of the knights and one of her best friends stand up to the elite who currently had them captured. The Elite looked over to him, a small smirk on his face, followed by a look that made Estelle want to shiver in fear. "I demand you explain yourself!"

"Haha, commandant, you amuse me..." Elydor laughed. "Why should I explain it to a dead man?"

"Why did you take action, Elydor?" Flynn exclaimed, perhaps not hearing the thinly veiled threat, glaring at the elite. "The elite control the flow of money, I uphold the law! If you had captured the criminal, you should have turned him over to me and the knights.."

""How naive." Elydor laughed, walking closer to them, his hunched frame moving somewhat slowly across the reasonably sized room, "What do think this world runs on? Mana? Aer? Lacrime? No, no, it runs on money! Whoever has the money has all the control, where do the knights get their money, from a division from the taxes that the Elite allots to them! Money dictated that I capture the criminal. That is all."

"Elydor, you had better of not taken justice into your own hands." Flynn's voice was stern, and Estelle paled at the thoughts that were running through head. The criminal, captured, she looked down at Flamberge in her hands and remembered seeing Yuri on the big screen. This had better not mean what she was beginning to think it meant. Her hands shaking as she went over all the details in her head, Estelle began to worry that the criminal the two spoke of and Yuri were one and the same.

"If you mean I executed him, then yes. I took justice into my own hands, just a bit ago in fact." Elydor spoke with an icy calm, a voice that shot straight into Estelle's heart with his words. "He lasted a while, but eventually caved and took his punishment just like a good criminal should. That's what he got for his terrible crimes."

No, by god no please no please no please no please, don't be what she thought it was. By god just be a coincidence, please by god be a coincidence. Had she not been so busy tearing herself apart with what-ifs and her worry, she would have seen a similar expression of panic flash across the commandants face.

"What about your terrible crimes?" Sodia yelled from Flynn's side, snapping both the commandant and the princess from their panic-ridden state. For the first time since Estelle had met her, she seemed truly enraged. "You have committed crimes much worse than the man you surely executed earlier. All those people we saw, all of those poor people, do they count for nothing in your sick mind?"

"What is it that you talk about? I have no idea what you mean." Elydor taunted them, his voice letting them know that he knew exactly what they were talking about. He pulled a scary-looking syringe from his breast pocket. "It seems you all have become delusional... how sad. I guess I'd better defend myself against these crazy people, kill or be killed, you know?"

* * *

><p>The dark haired swordsman lay motionless, the blood at his left shoulder and his right ear now dried. His right hand looked as though it was reaching out for something, or someone. His face, although mostly covered by dark hair, appeared blank, his eyes half-open and empty. His mouth was slightly open, a little bit of blood dried at the right corner. A figure walked over to the body, blade drawn.<p>

* * *

><p>AN: DUN DUN DUN! And before any of you ask, no, Flynn's knights will not become super -important OC's. They will be mentioned again, and will appear again, but, they will not become main characters. I just thought that Flynn would know all of his knight's names and their personalities, group dynamics, ect.

_"You cockroach..."_

_"Hehehehe...did you really think that would kill me?"_

_"You monster."_

Next Time: The Separation: Elydor IV : ERROR


	21. The Separation : Elydor IV : ERROR

A/N: Fuck yeah. That's all.

* * *

><p>The council's elite's footsteps echoed through the mostly-empty room, his right hand extended as he chanted a spell. Beneath him, a familiar spell circle began to form, and his clothes billowed around him as if caught by an invisible updraft. A reddish aura formed around him as he stepped just before the glassware that had the commandant and his knights trapped. Elydor uttered a malicious chuckle, thrusting his hand towards his body.<p>

The four knights, without the blastia, were unable to defend against the spell, as the ground broke beneath their feet, exposing molten rock and wave after wave of extreme heat assaulted their bodies, gifting them severe burns before tossing them aside. Elydor just stood there and laughed as the knights writhed in pain, immediately starting on his next spell.

She couldn't take it anymore.

But apparently, neither could Raven. The older man had snatched his bow from his robe, and had quickly and smartly strapped his quiver to his back. He had saddled an arrow, and drawn back the bowstring as far as it would go, taking a moment to aim well, then released it. The arrow cut through the air, straight and acute, before landing squarely in Elydor's right shoulder.

Elydor yelped, his spell cut short as blood began to stain his white robe. He reached over to his shoulder, grabbed the arrow and yanked it out. He held it in front of him, as if pondering the arrow somehow. The hunched over man twiddled it between his middle finger and his index finger, before snapping it between them. The Elite then slowly turned his head and looked over at them, his features expressing rage.

Elydor turned to them, and began to chant the same spell as before. Raven quickly loaded his bow and took aim, waiting for the perfect moment to let the arrow fly. Elydor stopped, looking over the group of people he'd entrapped inside the barred cage, his eyes resting on Estelle with a moment of surprise and recognition. He immediately ceased his spell casting, just as the archer released the arrow. But this time, the arrow bounced off him as if he were made of steel.

Estelle heard Raven utter a few choice expletives. Elydor had a defensive spell cast around him, making him impervious to physical attacks when he was not spell-casting. The only time any damage could be dealt to him was when the man was casting a spell. Which meant that any moment he was casting was a moment they would have to take advantage of. But, Estelle thought as she turned her head to face the Elite again, it was unlikely that Elydor would give them another chance at him.

She was right.

Elydor had pulled a bag of some kind of dust from his robe, and the princess had recognized it as the kind of dust that Bats would use on their enemies to inflict alignments such as seal, if he used that, their inability to fight would be delayed enough for him to do something nasty to them. If they were lucky, he'd turn them to stone. And that wasn't really lucky either, but considering what he had done to his other enemies, death seemed sweeter.

The door on the other side of the room opened, the click of the doorknob catching everyone's attention, like a pin dropping in a silent room. Estelle's eyes widened as a figure stepped out from the blackness beyond it, a shape so familiar to her that she could barely suppress her emotion as she recognized it, she could barely stop her shaking as she clutched Flamberge closer to her chest, as if it were her lifeline. Her emotions only intensified as as the figure stepped out of the shadow and into the light.

He looked haggard, malnourished, and as if he'd been to hell and back. She barely recognized him, he had changed exponentially since she had last seen him. His left shoulder and the right side of his head and neck was covered in dried blood. His face was gaunt and slightly sunken in, his balance was off, and he had an aura of rage. Although he appeared as though he should have been weak, his stride was long, even, and confident. In his left hand he held a cheap sword that was covered with the dried blood of his fallen enemies.

He was alive.

He was alive!

She hadn't realized just how fearful she'd been until that moment, when she felt her stature sway in relief, quickly catching herself and clutching his stuff to her body. Her heart beat at quickened intervals in her chest and her breath deepened as her excitement heightened. She didn't bother to think of the circumstances of his situation, the only thing that mattered to her at that moment was the fact that he was before her now, alive.

As if suddenly remembering that she was not alone, Estelle glanced over her companions and sensed their relief. Then, remembering the knights a ways away, she glanced over to them. She felt slight confusion when she saw their expressions of concern. Was it due to Yuri's terrible state, which made perfect sense, or... Estelle bit her lip as memory returned to her, was it something else, something that she was overlooking?

"You cockroach..." Elydor's greasy voice interrupted her thoughts, drawing her back to the reality of the situation. The elite had turned away from them, facing what he perceived to be the greater threat. He seemed extremely wary around Yuri for some reason, more wary than he had been among all of them. Was it because he did not have a trap set for him? "How the hell are you alive? That would have killed anyone."

Yuri's confidence was was obvious as a smirk emerged on his somewhat gaunt face, betraying his fraught appearance. His eyes flickered over to her, and then drifted over to where Flynn and his knights remained imprisoned. His face betrayed no emotion that he might have been feeling at the sight of them, somehow, he was keeping his cool. His voice was smooth, almost mocking, as he spoke. "I'm not just anyone."

"Good point. Not just anyone could have pulled the stunts you have pulled." Elydor replied, his eyes twitching in annoyance or in amazement, Estelle wasn't sure which. "At least this means my experiment will continue. I was so disappointed earlier, I was so sure you were dead. But now, it seems that I should put you to the ultimate test."

The Elite began to cast again, this time the familiar spell was almost too quick, much like Rita when she had lost all of her patience, and forgoing the chant. Yuri was already on the move, but Estelle knew he wouldn't make it to Elydor in time, he was simply too far away. She could see Elydor's spell reaching it's climax and watched anxiously as the Elite threw up his hands in the air and-

Another arrow flew past her head and imbedded itself exactly in the center of the Elite's back with a loud thud. Elydor arched forward, the words half-way out of his mouth. His eyes widened and his already paper-white complexion paled as he swayed in place. He looked over at the approaching swords man, before falling to his knees, his breathing heavy.

Had it really been that simple?

Estelle looked back in amazement at her older companion as he held his bow before him, another arrow already in place. Raven wasn't hesitating at all, and his expression was set in stone, concentrated. She hadn't seen this sort of expression on him since the fight with Alexei. It was frightening, how bad was this situation really?

Yuri stopped just before Elydor, looking down at the Elite, his expression hidden by the shadow of his bangs on his face. Elydor raised his eyes to meet Yuri's, and Estelle could see a smirk pass by on the Elite's face. As if a hidden words had been the final straw, Yuri raised his arms over his head, grasping the blade with both hands.

Wait, he wasn't seriously going to...?

But, that could, no, it would mean...!

The blade fell in a swift, fluid motion.

She could see every moment pass by, in time with her laggard heartbeat.

The sound was overwhelming, thumping in her ears.

The blade was just about to...

At the last moment, Elydor quickly raised his right arm, catching the blade and snapping it clean in half. There was a momentary look of horror on Yuri's face as he hesitated to move back. Elydor took advantage of that moment and lunged forward, a strange ball of white energy in his hand. He clamped his hand down around Yuri's left shoulder, the swordsman glancing down instantaneously in shock, as Elydor lifted the swordsman above his head and throwing him over his shoulder with ease.

"Yuri!" The sound left her mouth without permission from her brain, although she could hear a chorus of voices that accompanied her own as the dark haired male flew to the wall just to their left, perfectly in between their cage and Flynn's glass cube. He hit the wall and fell quickly, crumpling into a heap at the base of the wall. A few moments later, she could see him shakily rise to his feet, his breathing heavier than before.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Elydor rise to his feet, swaying slightly, a strange white glow emanating from the man's chest. A malicious chuckle arose from the Elite, echoing off the walls of the room for several minutes, his voice surrounding them. Estelle noticed Yuri toss aside the broken sword, glaring at Elydor, obviously trying to think of a new plan. Suddenly, Flamberge felt heavy in her hands, and she looked down at the blade, remembering that she held his current main weapon in her hands.

"Yuri." She called him, her calm voice somehow catching his attention amidst Elydor's insane laughter. She ignored her fluttering heart when he looked over at her, their eyes meeting. The reluctance he had possessed back aboard the ship was gone, at least for now, insignificant compared to the current situation. She held glanced down at Flamberge in her hands, and then down to her hip where she had fastened his travel pouch with the Tyrant Fists inside.

He understood her, and slowly made his way to her, slightly limping. How much had he gone through since he had left her at Zaphias, hell, he had looked better aboard the ship just that short time ago. He looked terrible now, and she couldn't help but wonder when was the last time he had eaten or drank anything. Was that also Elydor's doing?

He stood just in front of her now. She looked at him closely, and she could feel the returned gaze. The both of them immune to what was happening around them. He was in horrible condition, and it pulled at her heartstrings, and she only felt worse, letting him fight alone, like he had to. But Raven could only do so much with his bow, and without the Blastia, Rita couldn't cast any magic. Even her healing, had she been able to fully use it, would of only done so much. Nothing short of weeks of recovery would heal him now.

Slowly, she angled Flamberge, still in it's sheath, through the bars, and then dropped it into his fully capable hands. Somewhat reluctantly, she retracted her hands back into the cell, and continued her task. She reached down around her waist, and loosened his travel pack from her belt. Then she paused for a moment remembering that his pack had been looted earlier by the guards of this place...

Ignoring his gasp of protest, she slipped a few gels and bottles into his bag, before clipping it shut. Again, she slipped her arms through the bars, gently handing it to him. He took it from her, and then reached back behind him, clipping it to his belt. The swordsman reached into it, found his Tyrant Fist, and slipped it on. She could only watch him suit up for battle, feeling helpless and useless behind these bars between them.

He looked up and met her eyes once again, and, almost as if he was tired of whatever facade he'd been hiding behind until now, gave her a smile. A smile was usually an expression of happiness, a sign of pleasure. The smile on his face right now, the expression that his eyes displayed, his gaunt features...It broke her heart.

Yuri turned away from her, his hand on Flamberge's handle as Elydor's laugh began to diminish, the time of their little exchange being no longer than a minute or two. At that moment, she knew, that if she said nothing, she'd never see him again, she'd regret it.

So, with her heart in her throat, nervousness eating her alive, trembling fingers that hesitated to reach out to him on their own. Without thinking, she thrust her right arm through the bars, towards him, her fingers reaching, craving contact. For a moment, full of hope, she felt her fingers brush against the cuff of his sleeve. Her heart skipped a beat, the butterflies in her stomach did somersaults and her voice caught in her throat in excitement.

Then the moment died.

Her feelings hadn't reached him.

* * *

><p>It felt good to hold Flamberge again.<p>

He was reasonably sure that this weapon wouldn't break on him, it dealed a fair amount of damage, and he knew this blade well. It was nothing compared to his Second Star though, but it would certainly do the job well enough. He tested it's weight in his hand, re-familiarizing himself with it as he approached Elydor, preparing himself best he could for this battle, both mentally and physically.

After all, he had just went to the brink of death and back, and he wasn't eager to repeat that experience any time soon. He shuddered slightly, forcing himself to remember that he was fine, he was alive. And he was going to make that little bastard pay- for everything that the little hunched over shit had put all the people here through, for threatening Brave Vesperia, and what he had done to Flynn. And he was none too pleased with what he had been put through this last week or so...

Elydor's laughed had seized just moments ago, but that wasn't even on Yuri's mind as he stopped before the council Elite, Flamberge thrown casually over his shoulder. His body felt strangely light, he could only hope that he didn't collapse into a mess of muscle and bones. A moment passed in which the two of them sized the other up.

Yuri charged.

He was sick of words.

He slashed vertically at Elydor, aiming for his chest, where the strange white light had came from earlier. The man didn't even make a move to dodge, smirking up at the dark haired swordsman, a look of mocking cemented upon his rat-like face. His blow bounced off Elydor's shoulder, as if the man were made of steel. He recognized the spell, a magical protection that prevented any harm from coming to mages while in stand-by, recovering their magical power.

Hmpf.

He'd just have to wait until the bastard was using magic. Shouldn't take him too long. After all, from what he had managed to summarize about his opponent before his first attack, he'd concluded that Elydor was a slow mover with a weak physical structure. That left the man with magic as his main mode of attack. And magic, while powerful, usually required time to cast, especially the higher level spells, which he was sure Elydor would aim to do right off the bat.

The elite started chanting an familiar incantation, a blue spell circle surrounding him and highlighting him in ethereal aqua glow. That was the Tidal Wave incantation, a more advanced spell. Confident that he had plenty of time to land a hit, Yuri charged forward, Flamberge at the ready. Just as he stood before Elydor, he saw the re-emergence of the Elite's condescending smirk.

"Freeze Lancer!"

What the hell?

Yuri didn't have much time to react as a giant ice-attribute spell circle formed in the air just in front of him. A puff of icy energy emerged from it, warning him of what was to come just seconds later. He collapsed his legs, falling to the ground as several spears of ice flew just overhead, most of them barely missing them although he clung to the ground like a child clinging to his mother.

He glanced up as the strange 'whooshing' sound the Freeze Lancer spell made faded, only to see Elydor in the middle of his next spell. From the golden brown color and the incantation, he would guess that the spell would be Stone Blast, but given what had just happened, he reluctant to trust it by appearances and incantations alone. It was probably something more along the lines of Stalagmite, therefore, the bastard would be a lot more open to attack than he wanted Yuri to believe. Or, it could be another trap.

Either way, little would be accomplished by him sitting here dumbly.

Quickly getting up to his feet, he hesitated for little more than a moment, Flamberge already prepared, heading straight for the Elite. He went in for a horizontal swing, and if he managed to land the hit, he figured he'd follow up with Shining Fang. That would deal some damage to this bastard of a man. He had just released his swing aimed toward Elydor's side when the ground beneath him began to emit a strange yellow light, forcing the swordsman to immediately sidestep to the right and cancel out his original plan of attack.

But he had been prepared for something like this.

Spinning on the ball of his right foot, he threw Flamberge into the air, completely turning his body around and thrusting his left side towards Elydor. His left hand snatched the falling sword out of the air, clutching it in his hand tightly and used his interrupted energy, redirecting it towards another attack at the Elite. This time he'd get him for sure...

Dammit.

He'd forgotten about that damn protective spell.

He'd need to wait until Elydor was casting a spell. But it wasn't working out well with the wait-then-attack strategy. It appeared that Elydor was able to cast spells quickly, without the incantations, adding them only to confuse his enemy. It was highly effective, unfortunately, as Yuri was unable to guess what spell was coming up next. This battle would be more difficult than the previous ones.

Elydor began to chant again, this time a purple spell circle forming underneath him, one that Yuri recognized that Rita had used for Spread Zero, Violent Pain, Negative Gate, and Bloody Howling... but which one was it? If it were Spread Zero it would be a little easier to dodge, but if it were Negative Gate, Violent Pain, or Bloody Howling, while it had a decent length of casting time, could lure him right into a trap if he wasn't quick enough.

Why was he hesitating?

He again charged the Elite, Flamberge before him as he approached the chanting Elite. The spell sounded like it was for Spread Zero, but considering his previous cast time for the similar level Stone Blast, it was more likely Negative Gate, Bloody Howling, or Violent Pain. Heh, he'd be in some serious hurt if he got hit by one of those in his current condition. He supposed he was lucky that this battle was nothing like the battle with Suingam or Ravk.

In his condition, either of those two would have killed him in minutes.

"Dragon Swarm!" He yelled, when he was still a slight distance away, trusting at least one of his attacks would land on the Elite as he jumped around, tossing his sword in the air, kicking, and throwing in the occasional punch. He felt the blade make contact and cleanly cut through his opponent. Quickly, he thrust his fist out, several times, each blow he dealt echoing through his body. And to finish off the attack before Elydor's defensive spell could be re-invoked, he slashed downwards powerfully, cutting right through any defensive barrier that Elydor could conjure and sending the elite flying. "Rending Wolf Charge!"

That was it. He'd figured out Elydor's weakness. Or at least he'd hoped he had.

Elydor was up again in seconds, ignoring the blood that seeped from the wound on his chest, already casting another spell, not even bothering with the chanting to distract his opponent. Yuri didn't trust to attack him right away, he'd need Elydor to think that he'd simply got lucky with his last attack. Only then would the elite, even if unconsciously, lower his guard in the slightest. For now he'd have to be content with running around dodging spells.

...

Sounded like a plan.

Not even really thinking about what he was doing, he ran towards the Elite, watching and waiting for his opponent to release the spell. It was a reddish-orange spell circle, and it was taking longer than fireball to cast. He knew that Elydor wouldn't risk a spell that would take too long to cast though, especially just after the damage that the swordsman had dealt to him just less than a minute ago. It was probably Spiral Flare...

The recognizable ring of reddish orange magic formed in air, emitting hot energy. Spiral Flare dealed a reasonable amount of damage, but it was easy to dodge. Unfortunately, while he was busy dodging, Elydor had started casting a wind-based spell, one that was less identifiable to Yuri, but one that he still knew fairly well. It was harder to dodge the Wind Blade, as it was the wind that formed around him, tearing at his skin and clothes. He did not escape from that one completely unharmed.

It was just a cut above his eyebrow, but he knew he'd already lost quite enough blood through his battles and dehydration. Every drop counted. He could not afford to make a mistake like that again. Wiping away the thick liquid away from his eyebrow where it had begun to gather so that it would not get in his eyes later, the dark haired swordsman hung back again, watching Elydor cast his next attack.

The ground beneath the Elite was green again, another wind based spell. It was taking longer than Wind Blade had, so, it would probably be Tractor Beam or one of the other, more powerful and annoying spells. Yuri took off to the left, surprising the Elite, but he couldn't have Elydor thinking that he had a plan, so, again, he thoughtlessly threw himself at the Elite with another Dragon Swarm.

Elydor merely stepped back a few paces, gifting the swordsman yet another idea.

And so, their battle continued.

And continued.

And continued some more.

They must had been fighting for nearly half an hour by this point, neither managing to inflict too much damage upon the other. Yuri had once again managed to get close enough to Elydor to use his Dragon Swarm, in hopes of landing another hit like before. But of course, just like Yuri's several other attempts at the attack, Elydor stepped back and away, already starting his next spell and effectively avoiding any damage that could be dealt.

And right into the wall.

He took a moment to glance at the wall behind him in confusion, his mind still not fully registering the solid object behind him as the wall. A rock dropped into the bottom of his stomach as the world slowed down around him, turning to meet his opponents obsidian eyes, full of determination and battle craze. When had he allowed this to happen? Yuri could see the confusion on the elite's face being replaced by a sort of wry laugh as the realization dawned upon him.

From the beginning, this had been a battle of strategy, of patience, and of endurance more so than the damage that could be dealt. And this half dead boy had thought of something like this, and had possessed the will and the strength to see it through. He'd completely and outsmarted Elydor, and they both knew it.

"Destruction field! Tiger Blade! Cerberus Strike! Wolf Strike! Havoc Blast! Dragon Swarm! Brutal Fang!" One right after the other, he didn't stop, he couldn't stop. Even a moment's hesitation and Elydor could have his defense back up, and Yuri doubted he possessed the strength for another half an hour run around and entrapment like before. He considered it less strategy and more luck, if Elydor had been paying as half as much attention to his surroundings as he had been Yuri, it wouldn't have worked at all.

That should do it.

Exhausted, Yuri leaped away from his bloodied and still enemy. He was again on the brink of collapse, but he was almost there, almost done with this place. Or so he'd like to think. Elydor wasn't responding, he just lay on the ground, bloodied almost beyond recognition and still as death. Again, considering his last set of attacks, he'd be amazed if the elite wasn't dead...

"Hehehehe...did you really think that would kill me?"

Fuck.

Seriously?

Yuri could only look on in disgust as Elydor rose to his feet, his body repairing itself relatively quickly, the white glow at his chest returning. The nose Yuri had crushed was rebuilt and reconstructed, the skin at the gashes and cuts that adorned the Elite's body converged again, reforming perfectly and much in the fashion of a zipper. The fingers that were barely dangling from the hand and the hand that was barely hanging from the wrist was pulled back into place, as though the injury had never happened.

"You're not the only cockroach around here," Elydor smirked at the now silent, somewhat peeved swordsman, before continuing his little speech that Yuri was sure he'd thought of before hand, " I don't know how you got as far as you did, nor did I expect you to last so long in battle, but you should have known that you could never beat me. Accept your fate, and die by my hand, there is no point in you fighting any further, there is no way you can win. After all, I am one of the elite."

"I realized."

Perhaps he didn't care anymore, perhaps he was tired of hearing Elydor's speeches, maybe he was pissed off that the bastard wasn't dead yet. It didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was that all too familiar feeling that was beginning to encompass his body, filling it with a sort of gleeful, giddy rage and strength, the strength he'd been lacking before. He'd gladly give in to this feeling and end this bastard's life.

"Hah...I see..." Elydor's voice was shaky, nervous, the terror on his face much the same as the terror that had once flashed across Ravk's and Suingam moments before he had killed them. Elydor's voice was shaky, but loud and clear as he finished his previous statement, every word ringing with a sort of fascinated fear, "I understand now...so that's how you killed Ravk and Suingam...You monster."

He raised Flamberge, almost to eye level as he felt the power sinking in, but hesitated the moment his eyes drifted across his sword... Why? Why was he feeling this now that he had the cat in the bag? He was forgetting something important, but what? His eyes saw his Tyrant Fist, and the feeling persisted even stronger than before. What was he forgetting?

Estelle.

No!

He didn't want her to see him like this!

Sickened by himself, he stumbled backwards, away from Elydor, the blade in his hand trembling. He wanted out of this weird mind phase that he had sunk into, he would defeat Elydor and free them of his own free will! He wasn't sure what he might do to her when seduced by the deep throes of his mystical power and insanity...He had to fight it!

Then he remembered, Estelle wasn't the only one there.

Flynn was there too...

And Raven.

And Karol.

And Rita.

No...no...no!

He didn't want any of them to see this, this, this...this, monster he was becoming!

He wrenched himself away from Elydor, ignoring the look of surprise

He didn't no how to fight it though, the more he protested, yelling, clutching his head and trying to distance himself the harder it got. The more he fought, the louder he could hear a voice and the clearer he could see a face. It was so loud, repeating something over and over again, the same words, the same story, the same sounds. It hurt, it hurt so bad.

Make it stop make it stop make it stop!

He could see a figure, but not it's face, it was hazy, almost as if it wasn't there.

Where was he?

This wasn't where he had been.

What was going on?

His head felt like it was going to explode!

There was someone behind him. An enemy? He didn't know. He quickly turned around, thrusting his blade into the blackness.

Someone to his right. A threat? He didn't know. He spun on his heel, sword in hand and slashed into the darkness.

It continued for what felt like forever, more 'someone's, quicker intervals, surrounding him out of sight under the veil of dark.

No no no!

He fell forward to his knees, clutching his head, screaming as the voice grew louder and louder, echoing over and over again a simple set of words that he didn't understand but recognized all too well. What was it saying over and over, that voice that repeated the same syllables in the same tone,cadence, rhythm? Whose voice was it? Who did it belong to? Why?

It stopped.

It all stopped.

There was no sound as darkness consumed him.

* * *

><p><em>"Take care of Lady Estellise"<em>

_"What did you call these gem-things again? Lakreme?"_

_But, by this time in his life, he felt as though he was far too familiar with the ways of the world to expect a happy ending._

Next Time: The Separation: Confusion 


	22. The Separation : Confusion

A/N: Enjoy.

* * *

><p>The memory flashed yet again before her eyes, like a scratched record, forever on replay. That scream, that scream had echoed in her head for the past few sleepless nights, so full of anguish and pain. What happened to him? She wasn't sure, but she knew that the memory would haunt her forever, whether it be from his scream or from the look of utter torment that had flashed across his features as he had fought a loosing battle with himself.<p>

She didn't think she'd ever clear the sight from her memory. Yuri clutching his head, talking furiously to himself, yelling, screaming, howling even as he stumbled around the room. Then, he had looked around, his eyes wide open but behaving as though he were blind, lashing out at the air around him, as though he was fighting invisible enemies. The look on Yuri's face, with his eyes behaving as though he could not see. He had looked so scared, terrified even.

There had been a collective wave of shocked, stunned silence. No one knew how to react, she remembered, even if slightly, her breath escaping her and watching the scene, feeling as though she were about to cry. She felt the confusion and concern radiating off her companions, and she could see it on Flynn's face on the other side of the room. Hell, even Elydor had not known how to react at the swordsman's mental disarray.

Yuri had tossed himself towards Flynn's glass chamber, using it as some kind of support in his crazed state. For a moment, his body had trembled, then became still a stone. Flynn had approached from the other side of the glass, Estelle wasn't sure why. She saw Yuri raise his head, and she was sure he and Flynn made eye contact. Whatever Flynn had seen on Yuri's face made the blood drain out of his face, but he hadn't backed down.

Yuri had somehow changed, his posture conveyed a feeling of calmness. He stalked over to Elydor, calming holding Flamberge in his hand, every step he took deepening everyone's feeling of dread. Something was terribly wrong, and everybody could see it. The looks of horror on Flynn's face, now on Elydor's as Yuri approached him, Flamberge in his hand. There was something so ominous about the image of the swordsman walking so calmly, the blood lust rolling off of him in waves.

And then...he had...

Estelle closed her eyes, curling herself into a ball, trying to forget that ruthless image of him. Her doubt and reluctance to accept that he could have been slowly loosing it, it was all shattered. She had seen it with her own eyes, he was suffering from something, and it was making him loose his sanity. Perhaps more, it seemed that there was much more going on than what she knew. It seemed that everybody knew more about what was happening than she did.

It was so frustrating.

Yuri had turned to them, his blade dripping with Elydor's blood, his eyes calm and dead. Then, a look of utter insanity and sneer to match replaced the expression of calm, reminding her of a certain psycho they had dealt with a year or so before. He had raised Flamberge over his head, pointing the blade towards the sky. A strange circle of magic had swirled around the blade, a magic that Estelle knew couldn't be good. And then, he'd prepared to stab the sword into the earth.

This next part was the fuzziest in her memories. But she remembered that someone, someone very vaguely familiar had appeared from seemingly nowhere and had taken down this strange, psychotic Yuri, and easily at that. She had seen the figure give a little playful wave, before picking up Yuri's limp body and running out the door between them.

Less than five minutes later, the cages around them bad dispersed, and sank back into the floor. Immediately, Flynn had ordered the other two knights beside Sodia to give chase the figure who'd taken off with Yuri. Then, he'd turned to Sodia and ordered her to have one of the knights run to the control room, where another group of knights waited, to tell them to start exploring and evacuating the prisoners of the premises.

Then, the commandant had approached them.

There hadn't been much said, there wasn't much to say.

"Take care of Lady Estellise" and "I'll meet you in Danhgrest, we can discuss there" Had been the only conversation that she could remember. She had been numb, unable to respond to much while she had been there. They had traveled to Dahngrest in accordance to the agreement they had made with Flynn, waiting at the decently sized building that was now Brave Vesperia's headquarters.

She rolled onto her side under the warm blankets, burying her face into the fluffy feather-stuffed pillow. This room was meant for her, and while it wasn't much compared to her room at the castle, she felt much more at ease here. All of her closest friends had helped make this room for her, it was full of all the feelings they had put into it. It was so comfortable, she didn't want to leave.

She wanted to lay here and think about happier times. Like the time she had just met Yuri, when they had left Zaphias, when she had decided to stay with him here in Danhgrest. Or the times on their journey when they would simply just be together, walking, talking, learning how to cook, fighting to improve their skills. That time aboard that haunted ship, when she had felt safer alongside him, and been able to brave the ship's dangers.

She didn't want to think about the present, the scared Yuri who'd fled at the sight of her aboard the ship. The emaciated, battle-worn Yuri that had fought an Elite while in so much pain. The pain ridden, slowly loosing his sanity Yuri who had been in so much pain, who had been so scared, whose scream would haunt her dreams. The bloodthirsty, demonic Yuri who had killed Elydor without hesitation. She didn't want those memories, those unhappy and depressing memories.

She wanted the old Yuri back.

* * *

><p>There was a sudden explosion.<p>

Flynn ducked for cover in case of a cave-in, it wouldn't do much, in fact a quick death might be kinder, but he found himself doing it regardless. Around him, he could hear his knights yelling and a scream before the noise settled a little. He stepped out from his hiding place, glancing at the hallway walls and the ceiling. They looked stable enough, but as Rechner was built underground, with enough tremors and support beams being destroyed, this place would cave in.

"Sir!" He heard Sodia yell from just down the hallway, running towards him, her helmet tucked under her arm. She looked as though she bore bad news, and the commandant couldn't help but sigh. These past few days had been nothing but bad news. "The north support was destroyed, and now we can't reach the north half of Rechner. It's all caved in!"

"And what of Azore and his group?" Flynn asked, feeling as though a stone had dropped to the pit of his stomach, already knowing her answer.

"Presumed dead."

That was the third squad of Knights they had lost in the past two days following Elydor's assassination...no, his murder. The day after Elydor's death, the Northwest support had been destroyed, and the Knight's guarding it wiped out. Yesterday, the Northeast support had been attacked, and even with the increased number of Knights there, they had lost. And now, Azore's Squad had joined the ranks of the casualties.

How many more would die before the ones behind this were appeased? Knowing his luck, whoever was behind this wanted them all dead. Or out of Rechner, and fast. Either way, it wasn't much to his liking. As he spoke, there could be the culprit, killing off the prisoners, guards, scientists, and Knights all in one fell swoop, caving in the compound.

It would be too dangerous for them to stay much longer.

He'd probably have everyone evacuate in the morning, just a few hours away, with what the prisoners they had managed to save and the minimal evidence they had managed to gather. With half of the structures supports down, it was extremely dangerous to remain inside too long. It was better to be safer than sorry.

Some of the Knights who didn't know the swordsman as well as Flynn did, had suggested that the infamous Yuri Lowell was behind it. Flynn laughed at the idea, it didn't seem really Yuri-like to him. But, then again, fits of craziness that resulted in a beheading didn't really seem like something that Yuri would do either.

But still, it had amazed him that all of his knights already knew about Yuri being the one who was murdering the elite. As soon as the night of Elydor's murder, a knight had already approached him with the question...Raithe had later told him that Genna had been the one to let it out, despite the commandant's orders to the four of them to keep quiet for now. He reminded himself to later chastise her and her big mouth.

The memory flashed before his eyes and the commandant stumbled slightly, eliciting a sound of alarm from the woman in front of him. He was suddenly unexpectedly dizzy and he stumbled backwards, to the wall, using it as a more solid support. He could hear voices, but they didn't make any sense, all jumbled together, making nonsense words that he didn't recognize.

He could only see that image of Yuri

Yuri's dead eyes that stared on emptily, void of all life and emotion, much like the eyes he had possessed back in Zaphias, when he'd injured him. Yuri's broken, torn, and battered body that could barely stand. A Yuri that Flynn was unable to recognize. He no longer guessed something was majorly wrong, nor felt it. No, it had only taken his friends utter and total mental breakdown for him to realize that something was terribly amiss, something much deeper than anything that he might have thought before.

That image of Yuri somewhat frightened him.

"Commandant!"

Flynn blinked, he'd forgotten where he was for a moment there. He had no time to be thinking about his personal life. He had a duty to all these people here as the Commandant of the Imperial Knights and as a decent human being. He had to evacuate the remaining people by sunrise, he was too fearful of the consequences if they tempted fate.

He would take the survivors to Dahngrest, inform the top heads of the Union about what had occurred. He didn't know yet what he would say about Yuri, but he figured Raven would be of assistance in such a situation. The older man could be very helpful at times, especially when one was in need of a better way to word something, or when knowing whether or not to leave certain details out.

"Commandant?"

"I'm fine, Sodia." He murmured, putting his hand on the wall to assist him as he tried to stand up. Abruptly, there was a hand in his face, and he looked up to see Sodia offering him her hand. He smiled lightly to himself, reached up and took it. With a little tug from her and a little bit of effort on his part, he was easily brought to his feet.

"What was that?" She asked, her tone professional and cold but her amethyst eyes glittering in concern. Her inquiry reflected the question of the knights around them, he could see it on their faces, and he momentarily chastised himself. The knights were under enough stress already, the least he could do as their leader would be to refrain from having random dizzy spells and worrying them.

"Nothing," Flynn replied, unconsciously raising his hand to the wound on his side, a testament to his battle with his closest friend. The longer he thought about it, the more he just wanted to go lay down and wallow in bitter thoughts and sweet memories. But he knew nothing would be accomplished by such a feat, the only way he was going to get anything done was by persevering through these harder times. "Nothing at all."

* * *

><p>"Stand still."<p>

The child before her did so grudgingly, staring back at her, her blue eyes distrustful as Rita observed the strange blue gem embedded in the child's chest. It was exactly like the green one on the boy's chest in every way except for the color. Thoughtfully, the mage reached out and touched it, the surface smooth beneath her fingers. The stone was warm, and then briefly less warm, and then warm again, as if it had a heartbeat. Or, was the stone in sync with this child's heart?

"Boy," She said carelessly to the blond child still situated on the edge of the bed, surprising him. He raised his silver eyes to her light green ones, looking at her warily. Normally, she didn't care if people were wary of her, but she needed these two children to cooperate. "What did you call these gem-things again? Lakreme?"

"Lacrime. These gems are called Lacrime." He replied, rubbing his elbows nervously.

"Awww, Rita, you're scarin the little fella's." Raven sighed from behind her, leaning back against the door, relaxed. Rita scowled at him, it was as if the event two days ago hadn't affected him at all. Did he not realize the gravity of the situation? Or did he just not care. "You two all right?"

Of course, he was trying to calm the kids.

"I'm fine." The boy said, keeping his eyes on Rita. He remembered her from the ship, that much was obvious, and she remembered him all too well. He'd been the one to tell her how he'd met Yuri, and some of what he'd done. She wished she had known of these lakreme things then, she would have known more about them by now.

"Yeah." The little girl, Sennett she believed her name was, that Rita was currently checking muttered, looking up at Raven, not nearly as wary of him as she was of the unfriendly ex-mage. She had been found, along with the boy, Ryker or whatever, by Flynn just two days ago, just after Yuri had beheaded Elydor. The two children had been in the room where Yuri had emerged from just an hour or so before.

Flynn had been busy enough, so Raven had offered to take them off his hands, promising to ask them questions about Yuri, the strange compound that they referred to as 'Rechner' and anything else that might come up. They had been about half-way to Danhgrest when Rita had noticed the strange bulges on their chests underneath their ratty prison clothes. That's when she had first seen those strange gems.

Raven had been strangely attached to them ever since.

She wondered if it was really as simple as a similar situation, they both had strange gems for hearts instead of a real heart? No, these children had hearts, she could see them through the lakreme things. That was another creepy thing, the lakreme's transparency, she could see into their bodies. It was if that portion of skin, muscle, and bone had been carved away just to insert the lakreme thing. She shuddered, hoping that wasn't the case.

"So, how did you guys get these lakreme things on you?" Rita asked, finally rising to her feet, letting the little girl release her shirt. She was curious, that much she would admit. It was driving her crazy, not knowing much about that lakreme when it was obviously a science of importance. Why hadn't she heard of this before?

"Lacrime." Ryker corrected her.

"Whatever." The ex mage huffed, annoyed at having been corrected yet again. It didn't matter much, but even so, she was already in a bad mood from that event, two days ago. Behind her, she could hear the older man snicker. Her already sour mood worsened, and she turned around, immediately snapping at him, "Shut up!"

Raven held up his hands in a feeble defense, doing his best not to giggle too much, not wanting to ignite her rage any further. How could he be so callous, after what had happened two days ago? She wanted to think that he just didn't care, but she knew him well enough to know that he had his own idiotic way of dealing with things.

"Anyway, you two. How did you get those lakreme on you?" She asked again, re-directing her attention from the older man by the door. She briefly glimpsed the sunset over Danhgrest, just outside the window. It was quite the sight, but she didn't feel like taking in the view, besides, she had things to do, to learn.

"Lacrime." Sennett rectified her pronunciation.

"Close enough." She sighed, controlling her temper. She'd remember how to say it one of these day, just not today, not with so much on her mind. Oh yeah, she needed to remember to check up on Estelle after this, make sure she had eaten something. Why now of all times did the girl need to get down on herself? She sighed, forcing the thought out of her mind. She needed to focus on the children, and the lakreme- no, lacrime.

"I don't know how this thing got on me." Sennett piped up, her expression devoid of most emotion, rather detached about the whole issue. Her hand rose to her chest, cupping the area where just under the fabric, her blue lacrime lay upon her chest, over her heart. Her blue eyes were rather dull, blank when she spoke up again, "I've had this thing ever since I can remember..."

"I've not." Ryker muttered bitterly from behind her, he too grasping at the gem on his chest. His eyebrows were drawn together, a frown on his face as he looked out the window and over Danhgrest. Something must have amused him, for the child let out a dry, humorless laugh that sounded more like a gasp. Then, he shook his head and faced the ex-mage. "I remember a time before I had the lacrime."

* * *

><p>Karol walked down the darkening streets of Dahngrest, his head held low, walking by memory and not from sight. Repede trotted just a few feet in front of him, stopping every once in a while to stare up at the sky and sniff, searching for his friend. Unfortunately, both Karol and Repede knew that Yuri probably wasn't anywhere near Danhgrest. Heck, he could be well on his way to Capua Torim by now, planning on catching a ship to who knows where.<p>

Of course, he'd have to get past the Knights at Capua Torim if he were to get on a ship. The knights had been alerted to try and detain Yuri Lowell should he attempt to board a ship, but Karol was positive that they were not aware of why. There was few ways Yuri would be able to slip past the guards now. That is, unless he was faster than Flynn's fastest courier and already on a ship on his way to who knows where.

Then, alerting the knights would be pointless.

The boy stopped in the central square, noticing the new stalls built earlier in the year beginning to close, all of them, one by one beginning to shut down. He watched them, unable to think straightly. It seemed that Fortune's Market was down for a bit, that was strange. Had Commonwealth taken that many of their customers, and so soon? It had been less than a year since Commonwealth had sprung up as competition for the merchant guild...

But that wasn't important right now.

All he could think of was that event from two days ago. One of his closest friends and older brother figure had dissolved into insanity. It wasn't something he could just not think about, it was much more significant to him than that. But the worst was that moment Yuri had turned and looked at them, his eyes full of crazed blood lust and a promise of death.

Would Yuri have killed them if that figure hadn't stopped him? Every fiber of his being wanted to scream 'Of course not!' but honestly, Karol wasn't so sure. He doubted that Yuri's craziness was something the swordsman could control. On the contrary, the psychotic urge probably controlled him, after all, a ruthless beheading like that, in front of everybody, wasn't Yuri's style.

He wasn't even going to let himself dwell on the mental break down. He'd had enough with tears, he'd solve nothing by crying. He knew that. Crying wouldn't help the situation. Crying wouldn't change the fact that Yuri was a felon. Crying wouldn't erase the terrible memories. But why then, why did he keep feeling like he wanted to cry?

Dammit, he told himself he wasn't going to cry.

Wiping away the warm tears that slid down his cheeks, Karol stared up into the night sky, his eyes seeking out Brave Vesperia among the other stars. It shone brightly, holding an entirely different aura than the other stars surrounding it, glowing, luminescent. Looking at it calmed him, and a small voice inside his head reminded him that it was alright to cry sometimes.

"You're crying again? I thought you were going to try and be less of a crybaby?"

Karol stiffened, his arm shooting up to his face and quickly wiping away his tears with his sleeve, his reaction automatic. The boy then spun on the ball of his foot, turning to face his left, his eyes surprised, panicked, and joyful all at the same time. He was so anxious, his movement so jerky, that he found his legs twisting around eat other, and his balance thrown off. Waving his arms around him, looking effectively stupid, he fell backwards, landing on his ass.

Ow.

"You klutz."

"Nan!" Karol didn't even acknowledge her previous comment, looking up at her, his emotions mixed, but doing his best to display admiration. He ignored the slight pain in his backside, slowly pulling himself to his feet, the whole time trying to think of something to say wouldn't sound utter dumb. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." She firmly reminded him, raising an eyebrow to his somewhat silly question. Mission failed. Her short brown hair that framed her face had been recently trimmed, he could tell. The last time he'd seen her, her hair was almost down to her shoulder's, like Estelle's was now. She still carried her giant chakram thing on her back, making her appear much more vicious than she- wait, never mind. She was as vicious and scary as she looked. And cute too. "Never mind that, what are you doing? You told me you wouldn't cry anymore."

"Ah, yeah, I did, didn't I?" He replied, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous chuckle, trying not to let his true feelings show through. After all, he couldn't show any weakness before her, he didn't want her to think any less of him. He felt hyper aware of every movement he made, his arm coming back down to his side as he added, "I'm sorry, Nan, guess I kind of slipped a bit."

She blinked, clearly surprised, opened her mouth once as if she was going to say something. Then changing her mind, closed it, shut her eyes and sighed. She then walked over, closer to his side and brought her hand to her brow, asking with another sigh, sounding somewhat annoyed by his behavior "All right, what's wrong?"

Karol blinked, surprised.

Nan was worried about him?

It was nice, but he had to remind himself, he was in a guild called Brave Vesperia, he had to live up to the name! He couldn't have her trouble herself over him while he worried over something that he could not change. He was being so stupid, wandering around and brooding over what he had seen and not been able to do those two days ago. What the hell was wrong with him?

Karol stuffed his feeling of hopelessness back down inside of him, before turning to her and gifting her his sincerest smile, "Nothing."

* * *

><p>Tired green eyes drifted over the sleepy city, observing the people living there's actions. There were plenty of couples walking the streets at this hour. Some of them walked hand in hand, bodies close together, their feelings sweet and sincere. Others were leery and flirty, entering and departing from bars, entering hotels and staying inside. There were lonesome people as well, walking the street with their shoulders hunched and their heads down, and yet others who walked with their head held high.<p>

Humans were such strange characters, everyone of them different, no two ever the exact same.

He rubbed his chin, mulling over the events of the past few days, no, he didn't need to. He was quite aware of what had happened, he also knew that pouting, crying, and thinking over it wouldn't get him anywhere. First things first, he needed to gauge how everyone else was taking the news, and then adjust himself to fit. It was just easier that way.

Estelle had shut down, completely and utterly. She had made it to Danhgrest after a a sleepless night while they had traveled from Rechner. She had been quiet, well, quieter than usual, and hadn't even watched the group like she had before. Her eyes had been distant and her mind had been somewhere else entirely. And while he could understand the meaning behind her depression, he knew it wasn't the answer for her.

He wanted to help her, to try and cheer her up, but he knew he didn't have the right words. At least not yet, someone else would have to snap her out of it before he would add his two cents. That is, unless he came up with something before then. But there were still things he wanted to ask Flynn, about the rumor's he'd heard in Heliord and about the Elite themselves. And he wanted to ask Rita things, as she had been traveling with Estelle before he and Karol had met up with them again.

Rita was handling the shock the best out of all of them, he thought. She had immediately started checking out the lacrime, keeping her mind occupied at all times, not allowing any of her thoughts to linger, and if they did linger, they weren't at it for long. Of course, he wondered if she even realized that she was suppressing her feelings, but, even if she did, he doubted that she cared.

That wasn't a good habit to get into. But really, for him to say something like that... would only be a story of a pot and a kettle.

He closed his eyes, relaxing his neck, allowing his head to fall back against the chimney. He was seated atop the roof of Brave Vesperia's head quarters, bathed in the gentle moonlight that reflected off from the roof onto him. Hah, he figured he must look sort of silly sitting up here in the light, or really cool. He wasn't sure, but he was hoping for the cool look.

And as for Flynn... well, honestly, he hadn't seen the commandant much since the day Yuri lost it. The last memory he had of the guy was the commandant telling him to keep an eye on Estelle, as he trusted them more than he did Zaphias at the moment. Which Raven was sure had plenty to do with the fact that Elydor, one of the elite, had just tried to kill them all.

No wonder Flynn wasn't in a trusting mood.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar pair walking along the southern bridge, talking in low voices amongst themselves. He smirked, titling his head so that he might see the pair of lovebirds better as they stopped at a portion of the bridge, looking down into the water below. He had no idea of what they were saying, but was pleased nonetheless.

Karol hadn't taken it well. He hadn't reacted nearly as badly as Estelle had, but the boy had still not dealt with the event well. Karol acted like everything was normal, smiling, dealing with the other guilds these past two days, but Raven saw right through his little act. He'd heard the boy up in the middle of the night, seen the hidden emotions flash across his face when he thought no one was looking.

The boy, Ryker, acted much the same. And while Raven knew that Ryker couldn't have known Yuri for long, he knew that Yuri had a way with people. Somehow, in the brief time Yuri had been with the boy, he'd left an impressive imprint on the child's mind. At first, the boy had nearly refused to leave with them, saying "Yuri said he'd come back for us" and, "Yuri said he'd take me to Danhgrest." It was only after seeing Rita and Estelle that the boy had tentatively agreed to go with them.

Unlike the girl, Sennett. She'd been more than willing to accompany them to Danhgrest. The girl knew that there would be no point in waiting for the swordsman, or she never expected him to come back for them. She was slightly more vocal than Ryker, while he would stare up at the sky and speak to them with minimal words, she would chat, answer their questions. She knew that she did not want to go back to that old life of hers, and Raven figured that she finally felt as though she was free.

Honestly, everyone was taking the Yuri going crazy thing pretty badly. Not that he would have expected any less from everyone, Rita, Estelle, Karol, Flynn, but he was wondering how Judith would take it, once she got back from Mantaic. He was beginning to wonder what was taking her so long, that mission had been allotted less than a week's time. He couldn't understand how she still wasn't back.

As for him?

He had thought about it a little, but had ceased in those thoughts, he'd already sorted them out. It was depressing, yes, to see a guy like Yuri disintegrate to what he was becoming. The fact that there weren't enough people like Yuri in this world, it was a sad thing. But, by this time in his life, he felt as though he was far too familiar with the ways of the world to expect a happy ending.

* * *

><p>AN: Depressing chapter was depressing.

**_"If you go, you can never come back!"_**

**_"Why did you help me?" _**

**_For a flower with such a wholesome meaning, it lay corrupted forever just out of reach. _**

Next Time: The Separation : Recovery 


	23. The Separation : Recovery

A/N: This one…was slightly more depressing to write. :/ Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

><p>He could see fields of green, surrounding him from every way. The sun was high in the sky, marking it about mid-day. The skies themselves were a clear light blue, with a few clouds drifting lazily about. He was under a tree, its branches protecting him from the glare of the sun. He could see glimpses of the sky through the gaps of the branches and between the leaves. In the distance, he could see a river, the other bank obscured by a fog.<p>

Yuri slowly sat up. He felt fine, the best he'd felt in ages. He gasped in surprise, his hands immediately flying to his shoulder and his chest. His body didn't hurt at all, all of the starvation, dehydration, the wounds, the broken bones, they were all gone. It was as if they had never happened. There was no sign that he'd ever had a rip across his shoulder, and he couldn't feel the mark on his chest.

He wasn't curious. He didn't care how they had disappeared. He didn't care where he was. He just wanted to get to that river. Yuri rose to his feet, his body light as a feather. He didn't question the feeling. He didn't feel like questioning anything here, he just wanted to get to that river, walk along the bank and enjoy the feel of the water.

Yuri waded through the waist high fields of green, down the hill and to the bank of the river. He could see a small boat already there, a man standing there with an oar, and the hunched over figures of a man and a woman in the boat. He blinked, and looked at the man with an oar as the man waved him over. Hrm? Did he want to talk to him?

"Where to?" He asked, approaching the small boat. The people on board didn't react to him at the least, and he focused his attention on the man with the oar. He was wearing a long black, hooded robe, and Yuri couldn't see his face. His hands were gloved with a fabric reminiscent of leather. It took him a minute to realize that that the man was speaking, albeit very quietly.

"Over there."

Yuri looked up and over to the foggy bank on the other side.

"The fare?"

"Everything."

Everything?

Somehow...that didn't sound like a bad deal...

The man at the oar extended his hand, Yuri hesitated, then reached to take it.

"Yuri, no!" A pair of small, dainty hands reached up and grabbed him from behind, pulling him away from the man on the boat. He blinked, surprised by his mysterious assailant's power for such small hands. The dark haired swordsman turned his head slightly to see who was behind him as they fell to the ground. "If you go, you can never come back!"

The woman who had attacked him was short, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. The longer he stared at her, the more he gradually realized even the slightest things. He recognized some of her features, as they were his own. Her nose... the shape of her face... the way her eyebrows furrowed...

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled sadly, not answering his question.

Yuri looked around, blinking dumbly. Something suddenly wasn't right. Last he'd remembered he had been in Elydor's weird fighting room...why...why was he here? Where was 'here'? Where was he? This place made no sense.

He looked back on the boat, where the man, the woman, and the oarsman waited for his answer. The woman turned slightly, looking back at Yuri with a blank expression.

He froze, confusion beginning to sink in.

That was the face that he'd seen before he'd slayed Esnek...

Wait, did that mean that the woman and the man were Esnek and Tercel?

Wait...he'd killed Esnek and Tercel!

The woman on the boat seen him, and smiled at him. A peaceful smile, as if thanking him. Why did she thank him? He'd killed her! Did that mean...all of the monsters inside Elydor's fighting arena were human, or had once been? Argh! It was all too much, too much at once, he doubted he knew what to do next!

"Don't worry about that now, Yuri."

He didn't realize how pale he'd gotten until he seen his reflection in the water. Her voice soothed him, even though he hated to admit it. He looked up to see her at his side, her strangely familiar face peaceful. She was she waving at the boat as it crossed the river, now far out of his reach. He felt a question building up inside of him, and couldn't help to ask;

"Where are they going?"

"To a place you can never return from." She replied, closing her eyes, her eyelashes dusting her cheeks. He looked up, seeing the small boat beginning to disappear into the fog. He stood in comfortable silence with the woman for several minutes as he watched until the boat was no longer in sight. Suddenly, she spoke up again, "Come, let us walk."

He obeyed unquestioningly. For some reason, he didn't feel like disobeying her. It was only then that he realized he couldn't feel anything at all.

"So...whats on the other side?"

"Death...reincarnation...rebirth...whatever one believes, I think." She whispered her reply. "I've been on this shore long enough to know that this is the realm of the dead."

"The dead?" He whispered, more to himself than her, looking down at his hands. He shook his head, no, he couldn't be... not yet! "I'm...dead?"

"Does this surprise you?" She seemed amused, "The stunt's you've been pulling, the things you've been doing...I'm surprised it took you this long to die."

"How did you...?"

"I've always been watching you."

"Why?" He inquired, not even thinking to add a stalker joke a witty comment. A look of sadness flickered across her face, and she did not answer. Sensing the change in her behavior, Yuri sighed and rubbed the back of his head as they walked out of the plains, nearing the tree he had woken up besides. "Never mind...why have you been on this shore so long then? You know, if that shore leads to whatever is after...?"

"Because..." Her voice was quiet and he could see a fond smile. "I'm waiting for somebody..."

He wanted to ask, but something told him not to.

"But you...it's not yet your time..." She walked up to the tree, as he remained rooted behind her.

He looked up at her, a sudden memory of photo that Hanks had shown him, a certain woman that Hank's figured he'd better know. The ground underneath him began to glow white and swirl around him. He didn't care; all he could think about was the one question he wanted to ask the woman. If anything, he knew he wanted to ask the woman whom he resembled, her name. He desperately craned his neck upwards as he sunk into the ground, to see her, and yelled once again, "Please, tell me your name!"

He could see her sad smile, the same one from before.

"Nadia...Nadia Lowell."

* * *

><p>He was on the ground, slightly in a pool of his own blood. Yuri could feel the concrete ground beneath his fingertips, he could smell the smell of blood from the area, and he could taste the warm, vile air in his mouth. He could also feel his body aching and hurting beyond belief, screaming for some sort of rest. He could feel his parched throat and light, starved body... But...he was alive.<p>

Without meaning to, he felt his hand twitch.

Suddenly, his body began to convulsively react to something, and he was rolled onto his side by someone, allowing him to cough violently. He felt something in the back of his throat, and he didn't try to hold himself back, vomiting blood and stomach acid all over the floor. He gagged again slightly as the reflexive deep breathing collided with his gag reflex, choking again.

He lay on his side for a few minutes, heaving, fighting to get his breathing pattern under control once again. The world slowly came back into focus, of course, he hadn't realized just how out of focus it had even been. As his breathing finally slowed, his heart beating at a normal pace, he began to observe the room around him.

Ryker stood next to him, his tiny right hand on the swordsman forehead, his left hand on the forehead of the unconscious guard behind him. He stood there, still as a stone, a strange green aura emanating from him. Right next to him, the little red-headed girl stood in the exact same position, except her aura was more of a blue color.

What...were they doing?

"That's enough you two. Good job."

That voice!

"Don't try to move so quickly, let the effects sink in first." Otets's familiar voice said calmly from beside him. He could feel the girl and Ryker remove their hands from his forehead and step away, somewhat reluctantly in one of their cases. "Why is it that every time we meet, you happen to be in such terrible condition?"

Ha. Yuri couldn't help but smirk, slightly amused by the man's wit. He forced himself up, amazed by the strength that raced through his veins. Just a bit ago, before his little trip to death and back, he'd been... no, he'd been dead. This was impossible, how was he up and moving? He had died...how was this?

Nadia...no, his mother...she had mentioned that it wasn't yet his time... He smiled slightly to himself, he'd long got over having no parents. But...it was nice to have an idea of what at least one of them had been like.

He looked over at Ryker and the girl as they stood away from him a little. The girl was looking away, her eyes distracted with something else entirely. Ryker, however, was looking at him, somewhat worriedly. How had they brought him back from the realm of the dead? Yuri saw the boy reach up to his chest unconsciously, his fingers brushing where, under his clothes, the Lacrime lay.

_"It is called a Lacrime, type Vita." Ryker began, running his fingers over the green gem with a look of disgust on the child's face that made Yuri pause. It did not seem right to see such a look on a child's face, "With this, I am __able to see, steal, transfer, people's life force and then use it as an aid for fighting. I could transform that life force into physical power, magic, or even healing power."_

Healing power...

The power of Ryker's Lacrime had brought him back from the dead.

Did the girl, too, have powers like Ryker's? He didn't know, he'd only met her that one time back in Capua Torim, when he had attempted to rescue her from Ravk's men. Well, it had sort of worked, but the repercussions had been worse than the alternative had been. Heck, it had only got all of them in an even bigger mess... eh, he'd still do the same thing again.

"Where's Elydor?" He asked, his voice coarser than he'd thought it would have been before. He slowly rose to his feet, ignoring Otets warning that he should probably lie still for a while longer yet. No, he couldn't do that, he didn't have the time! He still had over half of the Elite he needed to do away with. Then, and only then, could he allow himself die.

"Yuri, stop-"

Now with some strength in him, he made his way down the open and dark hallway, ignoring the protests of the ones who'd saved him. He'd have to thank them later, something inside of him was telling him that he needed to get to Elydor, and soon. He spotted the stairs to his right, and turned sharply, darting up them, jumping over several steps with every leap. He wrenched open the door at the top of the stairs. This was the room Elydor had been in before, back when Yuri had been fighting Esnek and Tercel. Aside from the door he had used as an entrance, there was only one exit. He hesitated only now, how was he planning on fighting Elydor? He had no weapon...

Wait... how long had he been holding the sword? Had it been in his hand when he had awakened? He didn't remember if had been or not. Oh well, it didn't matter now. He had the will, and the means to commit his next assassination. He hated putting it like that, but no matter how he thought of it, that is what it was.

He opened the door, stepped out into the light. Elydor was there, with Flynn and some of his knights. Estelle, and most of Brave Vesperia, minus Judy. He was surprised, but neglected to question why they were there.

The next thing he knew, he was fighting Elydor, Flamberge back in his possession-

No, now, who was he fighting?

Where was he?

Surrounded by darkness everywhere again-

What...who...

It was all dark.

Then, a familiar scream.

* * *

><p>"Estelle!" He yelled, shooting upwards into a sitting position. Yuri's wide and panicked eyes searched the room around him for her. He could feel his heart beating at a mile a minute, his head throbbing painfully in his skull. His throat ached from the dryness from before as he sat there, panting as his thoughts settled and he sorted things out.<p>

One, he was in no immediate danger. He'd merely had a dream within a memory.

Two, he wasn't at Elydor's weird compound anymore.

Three, where the hell was he?

He blinked inquisitively, looking around the room curiously. He was in a smaller room, in a bed in the northeast corner. Almost parallel from him on the west wall was a stone fireplace, a fire burning brightly inside of it. Next to the bed, on the north wall, was a small, square dark wooden table, a large window just beyond that. On the east wall, just beyond the edge of the bed was another, smaller, window. On the south wall was a small green chair with a flower design and a dark wooden bookcase, with only a few books in it. In the south-west corner he could see a sturdy door. On the floors were two round cream colored rugs with vine detail along the edges.

Yuri glanced down at himself, at the cream colored sheets and light green blankets that he laid on. He reached up to grasp at his forehead in confusion, but hesitated when he felt something that definitely not his skin. Only at that moment did he realize that his head and shoulder were bandaged up and he was wearing only his pants.

What the…

"Huh…You're alive after all."

Yuri immediately turned to face to source of the voice, instantly on the defensive. The sudden movement sent a sharp jolt of pain through his body, and he doubled over, clutching at his shoulder, unable to stop the cry of pain that left his throat. In that moment, he felt so tired, so weary, like he had lived beyond his years, in a sense, perhaps he had.

"Careful there, you went to the brink of death there." Otets muttered, setting a tray on the table next to the bed that Yuri was in. Otets, like before, was in his black getup, his face still shrouded in shadow. The swordsman raised an eyebrow, still suspicious of the man in black before him. He knew little to nothing about Otets, other than he seemed to have an affinity for alcohol and constantly reeked of it. Why was this man helping him?

But all of his suspicion was forgotten when he got a whiff of whatever was on that tray. His stomach rumbled; reminding him it had not had any substance in who knows how long. Yuri blushed lightly, refusing to look at the alcoholic before him, slightly embarrassed. Otets laughed lightly, much to Yuri's annoyance.

"There's some food on that tray," He smiled at the swordsman as he walked over to the door, "And the bath is at the end of the hallway."

The door shut with a small click behind him, and again, he was alone in the room.

He looked over to the tray, his eyes sweeping over a small cup of water, a small bowl of soup, and a small piece of bread. Smart. After all, his body wasn't used to eating at all, so to avoid hypophosphatemia and re-feeding syndrome, he'd have to be fed small amounts of food over a period of time.

He hesitated, just how long would the treatment take? He'd didn't have all that much time, after all, he estimated it had been about a two months or so since he'd left Zaphias, since that woman had put the curse on him. How long did he have to kill the elite again, six or so months? He was already down one third of the time…

Before, he'd had the element of surprise, but now, the elite were on to him. And he still had to deal with Sutsycrof, Amynorp, Sothim, and Llisardggy. But unlike the first three Elite, these fellows knew about him, about his mission. He would be surprised, and honestly, a little annoyed if he wasn't classified as a serial killer by this point.

He was distracting himself again.

So much had happened that he didn't quite know what to think. He now knew that there existed people with the power to curse someone just by touching them, there was a technology called Lacrime that made the impossible possible, that his dead mother's name was Nadia, he was a cold blooded killer, and that he was slowly but surely going insane.

His little fit at Elydor's had convinced him of that much.

Had he hurt any of them while he had his fit of insanity? He didn't know. He'd ask Otets about it later, but until them he'd have to brace himself for the worst of news. _Estelle... Flynn... Rita... Raven... Karol... Repede..._

He was beginning to miss the times in which his mental state was stable...'er'...

No, he was missing a time in which he was free. A time, in which he, along with his friends and Brave Vesperia had traveled freely across Terca Lumieres, exploring the land and taking on jobs. Even now, in this little house and half-dead, he could see it, feel it, hear it, and smell it.

Karol clumsily carrying a large bundle of sticks, taking care not to trip, setting them down by Rita as the mage chanted a fire incantation under her breath. Judy watched the scene from a branch on a nearby tree, whilst just below her Raven leaned against the same tree, sharpening his knife. Repede lay at Raven's feet, taking a nap, and completely at peace.

He was cutting some fish and preparing some skewers, had a small bag of rice opened and ready to be handled, a small pail of fresh water nearby. Estelle was at his side, trying to imitate his graceful movements with the knife as he handled the fish, almost cutting herself by accident on more than one occasion.

Smiling and laugher as they finally finished preparing the meal, eating and joking, Raven getting threatened by the temperamental mage on more than one occasion, Judy adding in the occasional little witty comment, Karol being relatively clueless, all while Repede slept. And she was there, beside him the entire time, laughing and smiling with everyone else.

He would never get those days back.

* * *

><p>It had been about a week since he'd awoken, and he could already see signs of improvement in his body. It was amazing what a regular diet, regular sleeping patterns, and regular bathing could do to a body. He was nowhere near his normal strength, but it would be a while yet before he was back up to par.<p>

Living with Otets was strange, being in the man's care and at his mercy was even more so. They didn't talk much, and when Yuri tried to ask too many questions, it seemed like the man would shut down completely. A few of them, he had got some decent answers, but for the most part, he had only grown more confused.

"Why did you help me?" He'd asked the first day, just after a much needed bath and some food. He'd still been extremely weak, so he'd not moved around too much. The kitchen/hallway thing that he was in was slightly smaller than the room he'd been inside of earlier. It consisted of a few counters, a wood stove, a small pantry, and a small table with a few chairs strewn across the room.

"Because I did." Was the man's cheerful answer as he refilled his giant bottle of alcohol, ale, from a barrel that sat between two of the countertops. He then offered Yuri a drink, of which he politely refused, then sliding the lid to the barrel right back on. Yuri watched him suspiciously, not too ready to believe such a vague answer. Well, he had helped him, but still. That was not the answer he was looking for. "By the way, I've washed and repaired your vest, its outside on the line."

Things had gone smoothly after that, and he'd all but forgotten his suspicion, but dared not ask again. It wasn't until about two days later, when he'd started going outside again and doing some basic exercises that he had asked another question that had been vaguely answered. The sun was warm, and the ground was still damp from the rain.

"Who are you, really?" He hadn't even thought, the words had involuntarily left his mouth, he knew it was a silly question, that Otets wouldn't answer it, at least not directly. The alcoholic was a walking riddle, a moving mystery that had no interest in revealing absolutely anything about himself. Or herself, for all he knew. Heck, Otets could just be a chick wearing chest bindings with no hips and have a really deep voice.

"Who are you as in what sense of the question?" The words weren't carefully chosen, and he sounded cheerful as ever, as he chopped firewood to Yuri's far right. This was the most relaxed clothing he thought that the man possessed, yet, like always, Otets had taken care to cover his face. Yuri wanted to ask about that too, but he knew that he'd better choose his battles carefully, and after all, it wasn't any of his business what the alcoholic might be hiding under that mask.

It didn't stop him from being curious.

"Well, how were you able to defeat me in that…state…" He spat out the word bitterly, his eyes narrowed and downcast, "when even the so called "Elite" were helpless before it?"

"The Elite were caught off guard," Again, Otets avoided the main question, looking far off into the distance, leaning against the axe fixed in the tree stump before him. "Suingam, Ravk, Elydor, they hadn't been expecting you, a mere child in their eyes, to possess the power of the curse that you have fallen under. Unfortunately for you, you've lost that advantage."

"You mean that the remaining Elite know about the curse, or, it won't affect them as much?" Yuri inquired, his hand automatically drifting up to his collarbone to lightly finger the place where he had first been cursed, all that time ago. "Well, that's not too much of a surprise. I had thought that the advantage had been lost with Elydor, seeing as he had seen my fight with Ravk."

"Elydor wasn't one hundred percent sure that what he was seeing was the curse he'd heard so much about." Otets sighed, shaking his head slightly, "He was limited by his belief that such a thing was impossible. Sutsycrof, Amynorp, Sothim, and Llisardggy won't be as such. Those will be hard battles even in your other…state."

Yuri frowned, not liking the sound of that one bit. He didn't want to have to rely on that…thing inside of him any longer. After what had happened just a few days ago, he never wanted to let that thing take control of him again. He didn't want to let himself become even more of a monster than he'd already become. Killing someone in such a fashion before his dearest friends, turning on them…

What would he have done had Otets not stopped him?

"I would suggest bettering yourself in the art of fighting before seeking out the Elite again." Otets said suddenly, snapping Yuri out of his trance. The swordsman looked over to the drunkard as he raised the axe above his head, bringing it down in a wide arc and cleaning splitting a log in two, "But of course, you don't have that sort of time, do you?"

"How did you know-?" Yuri exclaimed, nearly dropping Flamberge as he spun around violently to look at Otets. The sword clattered at his feet as Otets looked over at him, slowly, lazily, like he hadn't said anything shocking at all. Yuri gritted his teeth as his original inquiry caused a source of pain in his torso, instead he opted for the vaguer, "How do you know that?"

"Because I do." The drunkard smirked, clearly enjoying the look of annoyance and confusion on Yuri's face. He then turned back to his chore of cutting the wood, seemingly not hearing anymore of Yuri's questions. The bastard loved to play with his head, didn't he? That was the last question asked for that day.

But, yet again, he had distracted the main topic. Now, today, Yuri felt the need to ask another question. But this time, he stopped himself, knowing full well that unless he was super specific, Otets would slip through and avoid the question yet again. Instead, he decided to approach the subject matter with a bit more tact. There was plenty of discussion fodder; he just had to figure out which dialogue would get him the answer he wanted.

"How much longer will I be stuck here until I'm healed?" He asked, pretending to feel crossed at the notion of being holed up recovering for so long. Internally, he wanted to smack himself for what he was about to say, no matter how true the words rang in his ears, "I don't have time for this, I need to be out there, and I need to be…"

He wanted to continue, but the curse cut him off with the traditional sharp pain the chest, forcing him to catch his breath yet again. He'd almost forgotten about those little episodes of his, how increasingly rare they had become. Was it because he rarely spoke anymore? He didn't really have anyone to speak to on this subject matter, so, he supposed that made sense.

"You could leave now if you'd like…but you'd only be rushing off to your death," the man in black replied, this time preparing some sort of rabbit dish at the counter. "But, the smart sensible you should realize that you probably shouldn't attempt to do any of that strenuous fighting at least until you are eating solids again."

Hmpf. Okay, looked like Otets didn't fall for the bait. That was slightly irritating, but what could be done about it? He decided to not even try to continue his false argument he had built up in his head, as Otets clearly wasn't going to let himself be tricked. Yuri figured he would just have to find a better idea for a discourse between them, one that would allow some information to seep through.

A few days passed.

He found himself staring into the fire on particularly stormy night, pondering the meaning of 'why me'. Why had that woman done what she had, why had she chose him, just…why? There was still so much he didn't understand, and it pained him. He was killing the elite, but why? Was he killing them because she had told him to? No… he was doing it for his friends, he was bearing the burden not by choice, but he was bearing it still.

He had thought this over a million times, and he'd already made up his mind on the subject, but… Why, had that, woman, chose him to suffer her curse? Was it because he had been there, convenient to her sick entertainment? His original plan had been to track her down and make her, somehow, remove the curse, and then he'd deal with the Elite.

That had worked out just_ fine_. Not a trace of her existence anywhere.

He closed his eyes, leaning against the wooden wall behind him, trying to forget the reality around him, trying to forget everything that he had got himself wrapped in. Soon, the sensations of the real world had faded into nothing, and he was with them again. They were smiling, laughing together, everyone was happy, everything was okay.

He could see a blue sky in the distance, lazy clouds lulling, sunlight pouring through, casting them in a warm glow. They were traveling an endless green field, with wildflowers full in bloom. The breeze carried through and past them, carrying the sounds of the trees. Animals and passive monsters let out their cries for them to hear. It was nature at her best, her most perfect, most memorable.

Karol tried to race away as a pair of gentle white gloved hands placed a flower tiara upon his head. Rita didn't resist, merely blushed and looked away. Judy seemed pleased to receive one, Repede didn't seem to mind. Flynn accepted the gift with a smile, and a stern gaze reminding Raven to behave as he to received one of the gifts.

Finally, she turned to him, a yellow flowered wreath upon her head. She thrust out a white carnation wreath for him, a wide, happy smile on her face. Smiling, he humored her, leaning down slightly so that she may place the wreath upon his head. She giggled, such a sweet sound, as she gingerly laid the flowers on his head.

Suddenly, a jolt of a bloodthirsty rage raced through his veins.

Immediately, he was ripping through them, savoring their screams and their begging for him to stop. He was slowly, painfully murdering all the people most precious to him, in the most morbid fashions that his crazed state could imagine.

He saw their looks of horror as he advanced on them, he heard their screams and pleas as he attacked them, he smelled their tears in the air, and he felt his blade go through their bodies like butter. As he slit their throats, stomachs, ran them through, as he removed their heads from their necks.

When all was finally silent, he tasted the blood in the air. Somehow, his sense returning to him, he looked down and saw her there. She laid there beside the others, with their blood staining the ground, tears in their still glassy eyes. As horror began to build inside of him, he followed the line of her outstretched arm.

And just there at his feet, just out of her reach, lay the wreath of white carnations, once so pure, a present from her to him. Now it lay trampled and forsaken on the bloodied ground, an irony of its kind. For a flower with such a wholesome meaning, it lay corrupted forever just out of reach.

* * *

><p>He woke up with a start, the blood drained from his face, unable to think clearly. He could only sit there and remind himself that it was merely just a dream. A nightmare. He was trapped, recovering from his starvation, a treatment which would soon be complete. They were not anywhere near him, and this monster he was becoming, a monster who couldn't even find solace in his dreams.<p>

* * *

><p>AN: Poor Yuri. I put him through the grinder, don't I?

"To her, life, death, everything...it's just a game."

"He'd make Lowell pay for all this trouble he was going through."

"One by one our clients are being killed off! Are we supposed to just sit here?"

Next Time: The Separation: Brewing


	24. The Separation : Brewing

A/N: No excuses. My apologies.

* * *

><p>Perhaps it was only to be expected. Of course, that is what he'd been told. To always expect the unexpected.<p>

And as he, Forrest Sutsycrof, read over the reports for what felt like the millionth time, he wasn't surprised at his lack of surprise. He was far too jaded, too educated in the ways of the world to feel some sort of surprise or excitement. Or even some disappointment that the current commandant, Flynn Scifo, had discovered the lacrime.

He'd just win him over, as he had done with Alexei all those years ago.

It'd be easy enough, no matter how morally sound Scifo was, he'd surely understand the use and the importance of the lacrime. This much he was sure of, after all, only a little over twenty years ago, he too, had been commandant. And he knew that the welfare of the people came before any personal needs. And if Scifo didn't understand...well, he'd last just about as long as those other 'commandants' who had refused to accept the lacrime.

As for his fallen comrades, there was nothing but a sense of regret, and irritation. He'd lost some valuable information when Peis burned and Kvar was pillaged. Now, he had his men destroying Rechner before Scifo got hold of too much information. Of course, the specimens didn't count, except for the special type lacrime, none of the undeveloped lacrime would last long in the outside world.

How could they have allowed themselves to be killed by a brat? According to the footage his spies had captured, a boy, no more than twenty two, had hacked his way through Peis, Kvar, and Rechner. The green haired council elite sighed, bringing his calloused hand to his forehead, feeling a combined sense of resignation and excitement.

That boy...

He looked up to the large magi-tech screen before him, watching the dark figure as he danced across the screen, sword in hand. From what he had read, seen, and heard there was only three things that he could deduce. One, perhaps this was all a lie and the commandant was the one behind it. Two, the boy had some mad skills. Three, he had the Mark of Dea.

It had been twenty something years since there had been a recipient to the mark of Dea. In fact, if he remembered correctly, there had been one twenty something years before that too. Was this a commemorative thing that the witch did? Either way, it didn't matter to him, if the kid had the mark, then it would eventually consume and destroy the boy, unless he met the criteria. And, as the boy had been killing the elite, one by one, he could only infer that the criteria was to kill all of the council elite.

That is, if the boy was truly cursed.

He had no way to knowing it that was truly the case, but he knew he wanted to find out. The aspect of even fighting him was exciting, cursed or not. The boy was strong enough to kill three of the seven elite, in such a short amount of time too. It was so fascinating. And, for the first time in twenty something years, he felt excitement bubbling in the pit of his gut.

He reluctantly looked away from the screen to his spy, a shorter, scrawny man with short, slicked back blond hair, pale skin, and down turned brown eyes. Originally, he'd been assigned to Suingam, had moved on to Ravk. He'd almost been slaughtered by the bloodthirsty assassin there, had Elydor not stepped in. He was the perfect spy, knowing exactly how to gain each elite's approval... For Suingam, he had praised him like a god. For Ravk, he had given out some of Suingam's best research. And for Elydor, he had notified him that Ravk was going to die soon.

It didn't surprise him that Elydor had done nothing to prevent Ravk's death, as Elydor wasn't on good terms with any of the elite, besides from the ever-elusive Sothim and Llisardggy. And, as they all did, he only sucked up to those two because of the powers they possessed. Those two couldn't be considered as Elite, more like a pair of gods sent to rid the world of the filthy common people and all of the dirt in the world.

But that didn't matter right now.

He looked again at his spy, who seemed rather uncomfortable with how long he was taking to evaluate the reports, the video, and the information he had absorbed. It wasn't any of that, but, he knew that the spies loyalty didn't lie with him, but with Amynorp. Sutsycrof knew the drill for his so called 'spy' by now. He'd wait until that Lowell boy came by, killed him, Sutsycrof that is, and then he'd steal the documents and run back to Amynorp, now with all the most important things about the developing Lacrime.

But, of course, that was assuming that he'd, the spy, that is, would live that long.

After all, Sutsycrof didn't take well to traitors.

"Well, well, Jorge..." He muttered, folding up the large volumes of paper in front of him, stuffing them somewhat messily into their own, neatly organized folders. The man, responding to Jorge, immediately perked up, slicking back his hair. "Could you tell me more about Lowell? You seem to have several exposures to him...what did you think?"

"What do you mean exactly?" Jorge laughed nervously, bent over, wringing him hands nervously, his whole demeanor somewhat cowardly. Sutsycrof rolled his eyes, that trick might have worked on Suingam, the ego maniac, or Ravk, the condescending ass, and even on Elydor, who couldn't care less as long as he got to experiment. But, Sutsycrof knew very well that Jorge, the blond haired, brown eyed man in the suit was no coward.

"Jorge, stop with the act and tell me what happened." Sutsycrof huffed, slightly annoyed and wishing to get to the point already. The man across from him seemed flinch, his cowardly actions revealed to be only just an act. The man stood still for a few moments, a few, deep, dark chuckles escaping him, his true colors finally revealed.

"That's no fun." Jorge frowned, once again slicking back his hair, his eyes and posture changing almost instantaneously. Sutsycrof sighed as the man suddenly became unbearably flamboyant and loud. "I always rather like it when I'm underestimated or left out of the equation all together. Makes work all that easier."

"Anyway, about what you were asking..." Jorge sighed, his eyes downcast and his face somewhat bitter, his entire aura changing once again, like flash weather, "I would say he was crazy, except my research says otherwise. According to my research, this craziness is relatively new. But...with how easy it was for him to slice right on through several of our top fighters...its probably Dea's curse again..."

"Truly? I figured you'd be an expert in such a matter," Sutsycrof grinned, looking up at the lean figure on the other side of the room. There was a cruel look in his eyes as he lazily flipped through the papers before him, knowing that Dea, and her curse, was a sore spot for the spy. Jorge's lip twitched. He stopped, his eyes downcast and his face darkening, "But... if it is truly so, and he's truly the player of Dea's game, and he's targeting us of the elite..."

"Then it can only be deduced that you of the elite are the factors of Dea's game this decade..." Jorge smirked, openly entertained by the whole situation, allowing his previous face of bitterness to fade. Too entertained for one supposedly with absolute loyalties to Amynorp and Amynorp alone. "The player...the augment...the factors...the dio... and Dea herself...Hrm...this game is quite unlike the previous ones."

"You think?" Sutsycrof snapped, rubbing his temples as a rather strong headache came on, his emerald green eyes narrowed and concentrating on the reasons why their luck had taken a turn for the worse. This was the last thing that they of the elite needed, was yet another interference. And just when they had been on the brink of setting their plans forth. Why, oh why did Dea have such bad timing?

"Don't blame it all on Dea, sir." Jorge spoke up, now walking over to Sutsycrof's desk and laying his hand on the wood before the Elite, as to garner the man's attention. Sutsycrof scowled and reluctantly looked up at the spy as he spoke, "Lowell is of Brave Vesperia, and on good terms with the Commandant, the Princess, and the Emperor."

"Are you saying that the boy somehow found out!" Sutsycrof growled, his voice growing louder as he stood up, his hands flying down to his desk, knocking off a few of his possessions. Jorge, unsurprised by the elite's slight tantrum, watched dispassionately as Sutsycrof brought his hands to his temples, rubbing them furiously now. "Then why...has there been no accusations...it doesn't make any sense!"

"Perhaps he did tell somebody, but nobody believed that the elite would do such a heinous thing?" Jorge inquired with a shrug, although he really didn't believe it. There were a million different scenario's playing through both his and Sutsycrof's head's. The only thing that they knew for certain was that it was still uncertain whether or not Lowell knew of the plot, but still a very real possibility.

"That still doesn't explain why we of the Elite are the factors for this game!" Sutsycrof snarled, taking his mind off of his other thoughts and facing the window, his face hidden from Jorge's view. "I thought that originally that Dea chose us because she thought that Lowell would never defeat us...but, Dea always chooses strong players that have a chance at winning the game. It would make no sense for her to choose a weak player after all this time..."

"Are you saying that Dea is trying to kill off the Elite?" Jorge laughed, already having come to this conclusion a long time ago, merely suggesting it now to help move the conversation along. He was curious to fond out just how much Sutsycrof knew of Dea, her habits and personality. No one knew much about her, yet somehow...

"No...she doesn't think like that..." Sutsycrof sighed, his headache now a hundred times worse than it had been before. He now faced Jorge with a somewhat defeated sigh, trying to figure the right words to explain the enigmatic woman, "She's like a child, nothing is serious. The world is her chessboard and we are all merely the chess pieces. To her, life, death, everything...it's just a game. "

* * *

><p>Haigos Evaristus-Lampo Leimer took a delicate sip of his fine, red wine in his rather expensive drinking glass, his head tilted back slightly. He set down the glass on the equally expensive glass tabletop, framed in gold, then proceeded to look out the large arched window to his right. Sky blue curtains whipped around him as a violent gust of wind nearly knocked him over, forcing him to slam the window shut.<p>

Nothing was going his way anymore.

Leimer growled, as he reread the instructions from Amynorp for what seemed to be the millionth time, irritated that she even thought she could tell him what to do. Haigos Evaristus-Lampo Leimer took orders from nobody, not even the haughty bastards of the Council Elite. He ran his hand through his silky blond hair, as though to soothe himself, pulling it out of it's original ponytail at the base of his neck.

Of course, if there was a way to get him on the throne, even he'd listen to their orders... for now. When he was Emperor, he'd have all of those damn elite bowing at his feet, begging him for forgiveness, for reprieve, and praising him. He smirked, suddenly in a good mood for the first time in several weeks.

If the Elite had done him any good, it was by mere coincidence. He was the most natural selection for emperor after all, having all the necessary skills and charisma. They had set him up with the pretty little princess, Estellise. He'd heard she was meek, innocent, and submissive little thing, just his type of woman. All she had to do now was grow out her hair a little more, women with short hair weren't women at all.

Of course, he still had to find out how he was going to do this exactly. The directions on the letter were a little difficult to pull off in the Empire's current state of affairs. He narrowed his eyes, figuring that that is exactly what the elite wanted him to think, that perhaps they didn't expect him to figure out how to do things without their assistance.

He'd show them.

Somehow.

For now he'd play along with their little plan, do what he was told and the like. He'd let them think he was some brainless noble that they could yank around and trick into doing all sorts of things. He'd let them think that, all while he plotted to overthrow them behind their conceited backs. After all, they would never suspect their noble to plan to kill them.

Of course, that brought him to another problem.

Yuri Lowell.

It was in the gossip of the castle that Lady Estellise was in love with the lower class scum, and according to popular belief, the swordsman returned her affections. It was the perfect romance to many of the maids, a story of a forbidden love. They wrote their own little novels on the two, fantasizing about the devilishly handsome man with a heart of ice who'd fallen for the naive princess. A little perfect romance in this terribly harsh reality.

He didn't believe that shit.

It was far more likely that the lower class scum had seen his chance to seduce the girl, to perhaps have a chance of marrying into royalty, and had set out to seduce the naive princess. And it had worked like a charm. Then, for whatever reason, the idiotic lower class man had attacked the commandant and fled Zaphias.

One would think that such actions would've severed any bond between him and the princess, but then, the very next night, she was kidnapped by that terrible man. He probably would've kidnapped her before then, had the Commandant not stopped him and alerted his knights, forcing the bandit to flee. Although that's not how the official report went, Leimer knew that was what truly happened. He'd make that Lowell bastard pay for stealing his bride.

There was no proof, but then, did there really need to be? He leaves one night, nearly kills the commandant, and then the next night, the princess goes missing. Hardly a coincidence, it could be nothing but an intentional kidnapping. To him and several others of the council and the nobles, that was the only explanation worth hearing.

After all, there was no way that little meek, submissive, and innocent Estellise would leave on her own. There was nothing for her out there, and she wouldn't dare leave the comfort of her home in the castle willingly. She was loved, protected, safe and warm here, it wouldn't make any sense to the pampered princess to leave such a home.

At least, he was sure.

He couldn't comprehend any other reason for her leaving. It made no sense to his highly sophisticated mind for her to actually want to leave her sanctuary, her place at the castle, by his side. Of course, they had only one meeting, the formal declaration. They'd met on several occasions, but never a formal meeting, it was all in the lavish parties at the castle. Things that were the norm for the nobility. And then she'd been gone, kidnapped, the day they were supposed to begin the rites of courtship. Had she not been taken, today they would have begun the rites of engagement.

He'd make Lowell pay for all this trouble he was going through.

Although, her kidnapping did have its perks. Lowell looked like the bad guy, whilst he, Haigos Evaristus-Lampo Leimer, was pitied. Poor Lord Leimer, barely a day with his bride to be before that scoundrel stole her away. Such talk would only promote his image with the people, perhaps create one of those cheesy romance stories that the maids gossiped about, earning him their support as well.

Then, after all the trouble had passed and he'd went through those months without his bride, when he finally got her back and executed the criminal Yuri Lowell, he'd be a hero in the eyes of the people, a far more suitable Emperor than the current, childless one. And if that wasn't enough, he could always go through with the council's idea, although he'd rather avoid such a vulgar idea if at all possible.

There was a soft knock at the door, drawing him out of his musings.

"Yes?" He asked, forcing himself to appear amicable and pleasant. The tall noble turned to face the doorway as it slowly opened, pushing his previous, murderous idea's to the back of his head. He saw the visage of one of the many maids as she timidly made her way into the room, leaving the door open behind her. His face remained impassive as the girl nervously fidgeted under his gaze.

"Milord, I'm uh, supposed ta be cleanin this room 'ere." The maid spoke softly, glancing at anywhere but him. He observed her, she was rather homely, with a slightly blemished face and uneven skin tone, but held to her own charm, probably due to her ample bosom. She was sort of skinny, with long stringy hair and appeared to be rather meek.

She would do.

After all, he was man, who had needs that needed to be taken care of. As a guest to the royal castle and lady Estellise's fiance, he had every right to these maids. After all, who wouldn't want to service the handsome, grieving lord? Who, still aghast that his lady had been taken from him, was now forced to wait for her return? That is, should she return at all.

Turning his attention back to the maid, he slipped over to the door, watching as she started cleaning the room, closing the curtains as so to check for stains, completely unaware of his plan. Leimer licked his lips, his hand on the brass door knob as he eyed her bosom. He then silently shut the door, barring the view on his wicked acts.

* * *

><p>Amynorp's azure eyes narrowed as she observed the sorry state of the information that Jose had managed to transfer to her via Lacrime. The words were blurred and distant, she had to strain to read the words. The woman huffed in annoyance as the faded words slowly came into focus. After all, she shouldn't have had to wait as long as she did. She had expected Jorge's work to be a lot better than it had been for the past couple of months...<p>

It was also probably due to the factor of Dea's newest toy. Apparently he was causing all sorts of trouble, even killing some of her comrades! She quietly snorted to herself, not at all surprised and a little annoyed by her comrade's weakness.

Suingam had been dense and not the smartest but powerful. He hadn't even realized who he was dealing with. Ravk had been cunning and intelligent but egotistical. He had a hunch, but upon seeing the suspect he had dismissed the idea entirely. And Elydor had been ingenious in his research and extremely knowledgeable, but he had been consumed by curiosity and greed. All three of them had all but spelled out their own ends.

Morons, the lot of them.

Adjusting her position at her desk, the beautiful Elite reached for her quill and her scroll, prepared to write her report. But what to tell Sohtim and Llisardggy?Either way, they probably wouldn't react to well to Suingam, Ravk, and Elydor's deaths. That was about half of the Elite that had been killed, an unbelievable feat for one man to accomplish in such a time frame, and a great insult to the remaining Elite.

And honestly, looking at the time-line of events, it only made sense that Sutsycrof would be the next one to go. Which meant, if he defeated Sutsycrof and lived to tell the tale, she would be next. No question about it, she was going to have to deal with him. But how?

Honestly, unlike her brutish comrades, she preferred to keep her hands clean. There wasn't a single accusation aimed at her, ever. She had never been one to do any of the dirty work, always convincing, seducing, men and women, getting them to do her dirty work for her. Countless people had fallen to her charm and easy as pie she had climbed up the social ladder. She had even married into nobility, and then used one of her flings to do away with her equally no good husband, assuming his wealth and political status for herself. Her whole life, from her childhood in the lower quarter to her early adulthood in the nobility, she had never once dirtied her own hands.

This time would be no different.

She set down the quill, having wrote not even a word on the paper. There would be no need to tell Sothim and Llisardggy of the happenings here, at least that's what she wanted to think. It would be foolish to not tell the two strongest elite of the rouge player. Besides, their location was also very convenient. Even if both she and Sutsycrof were killed by this poor pawn of Dea's, as long as the information they had reached Sothim and Llisardggy, everything would work out.

Perhaps they might change their plan a little.

She snatched up the quill once again, and reached over to her little inkwell, dipping the large, fluffy and showy quill into the dark wet ink, tapping it against the side twice to lessen the amount. She then hovered the quill back over the parchment, hesitant over what to write. This was a full and formal report, not some simple love letter between lovers. Although, she wouldn't mind if it were, at least when it was concerning Llisardggy.

She began to write.

First of all, she recited her report for them, the death toll, the success rate, the failure rate, the rate of natural increase within the compound, the changes within the lacrime, number of escape attempts, total current population, any problems that had occurred within the compound, ect. She also reported on the communication between her and the other Elite, pausing for a moment, considering telling him them, but putting it off for yet another minute, waiting until she finished the formal report.

Amynorp paused to look over her current report, evaluating the entire thing, wanting it to sound as professional and perfect as it could. Her stats were rather good and high this year, she was sure to be praised by Lord Llisardggy...and of course Lord Sohtim too. Oh, she had forgot to add the report of her special lacrime, her part of the final plan...of course, with three of the seven contributors dead, she would have to find a way to get her hands on the remaining three specialized lacrime.

She'd worry about that later.

Now, she finally got to Lowell. She told them everything she knew, everything the Jorge had told her. Two or so months ago, Lowell had left Zaphias after attacking the commandant, he had disappeared for about a week before then reappearing in Halure. Then, only a day or two later, Suingam was dead. There were some glimpses of the man at the ports, even some talk that he had been picked up by Ravk. Then, Ravk was dead. Almost immediately afterwords, he had been captured by Elydor, who, instead of doing to proper thing and taking the criminal to the commandant, had decided to play around with his new toy. Not too long later, Elydor was dead, killed in front of the commandant no less, and right after exposing himself! It was outrageous!

Now, the commandant knew that they were up to no good. However, somehow Rechner had been destroyed, burying any and all of Scifo's evidence... how dreadful, she thought with a smirk. That aside, at least now there was no argument about Lowell, he was definitely the one. She provided a physical despite, and even left the lacrime code as so to access his files for a more in depth look at him, as she had earlier. She ended the letter with a comforting sentence for her peers, letting them know that she had figured out his weakness, and would take care of the pest herself.

* * *

><p>Rain poured from the blackened heavens, drenching the southeastern edge of the night covered Tolbyccia continent, in particular a small village and harbor, almost invisible due to the overgrowth of the forest around them and the constant mist that surrounded them from all sides every day of the year. The village was tiny, consisting of a single muddy path that wrapped around a cluster of cottages, a small dock, and a decently sized warehouse.<p>

Inside, the warehouse was damp, dark, and all around creepy. A few old and decrepit boxes stood stacked in the far southwest corner, rotting and spilling their ancient contents all over the concrete floor. In the northwest corner, near a large door on the west wall, a few iron bins lay, one of them open, a little bit of the old paper documents scattered across the floor. Most of the west wall was piled up with old items, chairs, boxes of stuff, and even some weapons. On the far east wall was a small torch, illuminating several figures before it.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement." An icy voice penetrated the silence of the warehouse, his tall and well built figure moving slightly, extending a hand to another figure that stood just in front of him.

"I am as well." Another voice joined, a more lighthearted one compared to the first, grabbing the first figure's hand and shaking it firmly. At least four figures stood behind the figures, not speaking at all as the two men finished conducting their business. The second figure waved his right hand, and like trained dogs, two of the figures immediately flanked behind him. The troupe marched merrily out of the warehouse, unconcerned by the congregation of the remaining three figures.

"Are you sure boss?" The shorter of the figures whispered harshly, casting a furtive glance at the door that the other group had just left from. "These people don't look that trust worthy."

"And we do?" The boss asked with a laugh, walking past the other two figures and towards the northwest corner of the room, as if curious about the old papers strewn across the floor. "I can hardly blame them for being as cautious of us as we are of them. A meeting and alliance of two of the strongest guilds is not something done rashly..."

"That was an alliance?"

"Of sorts." The boss replied distractedly, picking up one of the discarded papers and flipping through it lazily. "Well, they might think that we think it is an alliance... and I am pretty sure that they are just planning on using us..."

"What!"

"But...we are simply planning on using them...so we shouldn't complain..." The one called 'Boss' ran his thumb over the aged paper, old Krityan legends telling of a terrible goddess with hair and eyes of the sun. He smirked lightly, turning back to the other two figures. "At this point, it is all a matter of how the game is played... so, for now... we do nothing."

"Nothing?" The shorter of the other two figures asked calmly.

"One by one our clients are being killed off!" The taller of the two snapped, wheeling around to face the figure that they referred to as 'Boss'. He stood there, his stance wide and hands fisted adamantly at his sides. "Are we supposed to just sit here?"

"For now, yes."

There was a bit of silence, the tallest figure stood still, tense, and still quite unhappy. The smallest figure and 'Boss' paid him no mind. The smallest figure kept his eyes on the boss and averted from his other cohort. The figure known as boss stared at the paper in his hand for a few more moments, before tossing it carelessly onto the ground. He waved his hand, and automatically, the other two men were at his side as he walked calmly to the door. The rain hadn't lightened up, on the contrary, it was pouring down harder. The three men stood there, patiently and silently for a few minutes. Then, the boss spoke up again.

"How is the troupe we sent to Mantaic?"

"I don't know sir, they have not contacted us for a month now..." The shortest man replied, looking at the boss directly, his voice stiff. At his tone, his taller cohort looked over, his stance somewhat relaxing. "I'm sure they were able to carry out their mission splendidly. After all, even a bunch of buffoons like them can not mess up too much on such a simple job."

"Please do not call your pack mates buffoons." Boss replied calmly, a smile etched upon his features as the shorter man behind him huffed lightly and rolled his eyes. "Just because they are not in the rankings does not make them worthless... on the contrary, our guild would be of little importance without them."

"But sir, it shouldn't take two months to assassinate one krityan woman!" The taller man snarled, advancing towards his superior. The shorter one watched the scene with narrowed eyes and a tense stance, as if expecting a fight to break out between the other two. "And anyway, why are we still taking on that job, the client who commissioned the job is dead!"

"She is of Brave Vesperia after all...what did you two expect?" The boss laughed, turning around to face his pack mates. The taller man's golden eyes narrowed, as if realizing something. "And as for why we are still taking on the job, another client insisted we complete it...she'll give us the reward."

"Alpha...Brave Vesperia... is that not the monster's guild?" The taller man with the golden eyes inquired, his voice a low rumble. The shorter man looked over to him, his eyes no longer curious, but rather like the tallest mans, full of rage and bloodthirsty."You know... the monster that killed our pack mates?"

"Perceptive. Yes, Asalle. It is not just Yuri Lowell, we have also been commissioned to target his guild." Boss, or rather, Lupe, replied. He raked his eyes over his two men who stood silently behind him. "And you, Asalle, Ilse, the omega's, as well as Balere and Marit, the Beta's, all have one major goal from here on out... to annihilate all of Brave Vesperia!"

* * *

><p><em>"Lord Sutsycrof cordially invites you to his private manor, Aelous."<em>

_"He will come, he knows he must..."_

_"You want to see him again, Yuri Lowell, that is?"_

**Next Time: The Separation : Sutsycrof I : Gust  
><strong>


	25. The Separation: Sutsycrof I : Gust

__A/N: Hahaha. Actually I find this chapter strangely some reason, whenever I read one of Sutsycrofs lines, he sounds like Alan Rickman... And Amynorp sounds like Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy) in my head. Haha god I am weird.

* * *

><p><em>Oh god its cold. <em>Flynn thought with a sigh, although, he was not going to say anything. At this camp that he and his knights had built for the night, he figured everyone was feeling the bite. Especially with Sodia so close, she might not say anything, but he knew as well as she did that complaining about something he was unable to change would not be very...commandant-ly...of him. But he doubted he was alone on that thought, for being on Tolbyccia, it was rather freezing cold. It seemed Tolbyccia was always at extremes.

There was extremely hot and wet and extremely cold and wet.

They had already left the hot, dry, sandy dessert. Now they were traveling across the hot, humid, wet grassland and jungle. He didn't know which one was worse. If everything went well, they would be in Dahngrest by midday tomorrow. Not that he was looking forward to that either, well, he wouldn't mind the availability of food and drink, but he was dreading the conversation he knew he was going to have with the remaining bit of Brave Vesperia.

And Lady Estellise...

He did not want to return her to Zaphias, not after what he had seen, with Elydor. Were all the elite planning something like this? It would not make any sense for just one of them to be up to something like that. Why were they experimenting, tormenting poor, innocent people who had done nothing wrong?

Speaking of those people, what were they going to do? Flynn glanced behind him, looking at his remaining knights. Quite a few had died during the attempted investigation of Rechner, and there was the rescued prisoners, dropping like flies after their rescue. Their numbers, in a matter of days after leaving Rechner, had halved.

The knights had quickly depleted their resources trying to save the dying prisoners, but to little to no avail. They were down to nothing, and the commandant figured they could only last perhaps another day without proper supplies. If their travels to Danhgrest were delayed too much, he was not sure that the remaining rescued prisoners would survive.

His inability to save the poor people at Peis and Kvar had bothered him. So much that he'd dreamt of those nightmarish places after investigating them. He was not going to let the same thing happen again, he wanted to try to get all of the remaining people to Dahngrest, at the very least. A little nervous of the rather extensive silence, Flynn stole another glance at his knights, and the remaining rescued prisoners.

Kostos was still caring for the girl with brown eyes and hair he'd found in Rechner. Flynn believed her name was Abrielle. Flynn smiled to himself a little as the taller auburn male gently handed the young woman a cup of warm vegetable soup, fresh made over the fire. It seemed Kostos had grown rather fond of the pretty, although malnourished, young lady.

At another fire, Wellis and a few of the knights prepared soup for several scared and somewhat confused children behind them. With a small smile, Flynn noticed that Wellis and the others seemed to be missing their cloaks, and that the children suddenly had odd blue and white blankets. It wold help protect them from the dreadful weather.

On the highest point, with the best view, another small campfire could be seen. Crewan had refrained from snarky comments, Genna had shut her big mouth, and the two of them sat, watching over the campsites like a pair of hawks. Watching for any signs of danger, and making sure that none of the rescued prisoners would wander off.

The snake tongued Allie and a few of the others knights, trained in the healing artes, ran between campsites, checking to see if anyone needed any help or some kind of medicine. The kind, motherly Mekala assisted the healers, informing them of anyone who was in critical condition and needed immediate aid.

At another campsite, the serious Raithe poured over a bunch of unidentifiable herbs and plants, throwing some in a pot of water and hanging others just above the fire to speed up the drying process. The ever silent Endri assisted him, throwing some of the herbs on a cutting board and others in bags. And just from the few minutes of watching them, Flynn swore he saw a rare smile.

And finally, up keeping guard all around the campsite, he could see Telman to the northernmost point with a friend of his around their small fire, making small talk and laughing. To the westernmost point he saw Drake and a few of his buddies. The southernmost point he could see Telman sitting with a young lady, keeping watch quietly. And finally, at the easternmost point sat Quill and two of her friends.

And lastly, on the second highest point of the campsite and just behind him, Sodia stood silently, keeping an eye on him as he kept an eye on everyone else. As usual, she was right there, a pillar he knew he could rely on in times of need. He was such a lucky man, always having the woman he loved by his side. At that moment, Sodia turned to look at him. He caught her eye by complete accident, and without meaning to, smiled. She looked surprised, dropping her stern mask and looking at him like she had never truly seen him before. One of the cutest things she'd done in a while. For a moment longer, Flynn just stood there, smiling at her, knowing that he had the best knights, and that no other commandant was a lucky he.

Except, he knew he could never bring himself to marry her. If he, the commandant, married her, one of the officers, she would have to leave the imperial knights. No... not have to, would be forced to. She loved being a knight, and so, he could not bring himself to tear down her dreams by asking for her hand. For now, their discreet courtship would have to do.

* * *

><p>The clear night and the sky full of twinkling stars pervaded his vision, only helping to fill his mind with the numb thoughts. They were sure to find out eventually, in fact, he was sure Flynn had already known. His secretive little escapade could not have lasted forever. Just the way it had happened, just the fact that he had lost himself in front of them. It was sickening.<p>

They surely understood now, that he had become a monster beyond all recognition. Beyond saving. They were disgusted by him now, they could only be disgusted. It was sad, really. At one point, he would have never thought he could be driven this far into the reaches of insanity. But now, he could scarcely remember a time without this insanity. It had always been there, in the back of his mind, the insatiable urge to kill, and the feeling of accomplishment when he managed to kill. He had just been able to suppress it before.

Raven, Rita, Karol, they knew what had to be done. Even if he had done what he had done for good reason, he could never tell them why. And, he knew the elite were too careful to allow themselves to be revealed so easily. Except Elydor, it seemed Elydor had lost all patience in the last few hours of his life. Before he, Yuri, had beheaded him in front of most of his closest friends, the people who trusted and believed in him.

He had destroyed that trust.

Ooh, it was getting chilly.

Yuri leaned over to his right, where a decent sized pile of wood lay, and carelessly threw a piece in. In this cold and wet nighttime environment, heat meant life. It kept a body warm and monsters away. Now, Yuri just hoped it wouldn't rain and ruin what little health he had regained. Staring into the fire, his thoughts drifted to a certain young lady with beautiful green eyes.

He could not even imagine what Estelle was feeling at the moment. No, it could not be helped. She could hate him for all he could care, as long as she was safe, and stopped trying to pursue him. Perhaps she would give up, cry her eyes out, and then move on, forget about him. And he, his heart throbbed painfully, he would have to forget her.

Yuri pushed himself away from the depressing thought.

He was a lost cause, even if he managed to kill off all the elite, he was irredeemable. If he managed to win this little game and stay alive, Flynn would catch him eventually. Then, he would be arrested and brought back before the council. He would be dealt with almost instantly, even if the regular council had disliked the Elite, they would fear he would do the same to them. He would immediately be sentenced to death. Probably by hanging, the guillotine if he was lucky.

Ahh, he would probably die way before then. His body would be found in a ditch or something.

But still, he'd rather himself not get caught. He had only killed three of the elite, there was still four more to go. He briefly wondered if they were still proceeding with their plan, or if they had halted it or completely cast it aside due to his interference. He was not going to take any chances though, he was still going to hunt them down and kill them. That much would not, no, could not, change.

Unthinkingly, he brought his right hand up to his collarbone and grazed his skin where the strange star shaped mark remained imprinted on him like some sort of brand. It was a brand, a sign of his curse. He had not thought of the circumstances of his situation in quite a while. In fact, he wondered if the power of the curse was beginning to wear off. Perhaps he could try to tell someone, no, he'd got that jolt back at Otets... the curse was still active.

Speaking of Otets, he had only just left the mans care yesterday, after Yuri had been successfully able to keep down a steak after eating it, with no unusual side effects for at least twenty four hours. Otets had then declared Yuri to be mostly healed and that he was free to leave at any time. But had warned him that he would need a few more weeks of careful eating and minimum stress in order to make a full recovery. With that in mind, Yuri had set out only hours later.

Even now though, he kept wondering why Otets was helping him. He did not buy what Otets had said earlier. In fact, Yuri knew Otets knew something about this curse, probably much more than just about anyone else. Which could mean he knew about that woman with gold hair and eyes, who she was, where to find her, and maybe even how to defeat her... No, he was being to optimistic there, even if Otets did know any of that, why would he tell him?

At this moment, those things were useless to think about.

A chilling wind tore through the jungle, ripping leaves, vines and even branches from the trees. Yuri acted and did not think, immediately covering his head with his arms in case a tree branch fell. The wind calmed almost as quickly as it came. The young swordsman slowly sat up, looking around to see fluttering leaves and vines swaying from the trees. A few feet from his campsite, a large branch lay across the path he had taken to get here.

That was close.

He turned back to his fire, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the wind had not put it out. He rather disliked the idea of having to camp out throughout the night without a fire. Yuri stood up, slightly swaying and turned to his wood pile. His eyes drifted over the wood, then he picked up the smallest piece and threw it into the fire, feeling relieved that it was still burning. Camping in Tolbyccia without a fire...that would just be asking for all sorts of trouble.

As if on cue, the heavens opened up and unleashed a downpour of heavy droplets of rain. Cursing his luck, Yuri started over towards his belongings, but slipped on the already muddy ground and fell on his ass. He felt less like he was on land and more like he was in the rapids of a river. Already soaked to the bone, Yuri glanced over to where his sword and travel pack lay.

Quickly, the man found himself rolling through the mud, stopping near the base of a tree, he looked up through the rain to the place he'd been moments before. He could see the outline of a figure, a weapon of sorts stuck in the ground where Yuri had been just a minute before. The swordsman knew that his sword was just a little ways from where his attacker was...

Squinting, trying to see through the torrential downpour, the young swordsman decided that he would have to approach his adversary. Actually, he could probably use the rain, the fact that it was night, and the fact that he wore a lot of black to camouflage himself into the surrounding forest and make his way back over to his stuff.

Yuri yelped as he was forced to fall to the right in order to avoid the next attack. His opponent had apparently predicted this train of thought, and had charged. Now that the man was closer, Yuri could see him and his weapon a bit better. The man was of average height, wearing dark tarnished silver armor that covered him completely, with a green symbol on it that looked like three curved scratch marks that got progressively smaller from top to bottom.

The man was also wielding a scary ax that looked much more like a saw than a normal battle ax. In fact, Yuri knew he did not want to get anywhere near that thing. In fact, he decided he would do his very best to avoid getting hit by the rather frightening weapon. One hit by that and he was a goner, like a side character in a bad horror novel.

The swordsman glanced over to where he knew Flamberge should be. He couldn't see too clearly with the rain, the water hitting him as though he were standing under a waterfall. But he figured that his possessions were just at the base of the largest tree in the clearing. As long as he could find that tree, he could find his sword.

Now he just had to get past his attacker and to Flamberge.

Wait... would Flamberge have less of an effect in the rain?

His enemy attacked again, forcing the taller swordsman to duck and dodge the best he could. However, he knew he would not last long in a fight without a weapon. He ducked and rolled past his enemy as his enemy attacked him. He stopped, pushing some of his hair and a some mud and grass off of his face, and looked up.

Flamberge was just in reach!

Yuri was just about to reach for it when, on instinct, he felt himself roll out of the way of yet another onslaught. It would seem that his current opponent was very tenacious. Shielding his eyes from the rain for a second, Yuri quickly scoped out the area. Currently, his enemy was still far too close to his possessions, he would never regain Flamberge if this continued.

Yuri began to back away, doing his utmost best to make sure none of his enemies well timed and aimed attacks hit him. The dark haired swordsman jumped back, landed on the ball of his right foot, swung out and around his left, before landing a direct kick in the stomach of his opponent. However, the solid clang and the waves of pain traveling up his left leg told him that it wasn't a very effective hit. But never mind that, it seemed his strategy was working!

Almost as if he could read his thoughts, Yuri's adversary immediately stopped pursuing him and backed away from him and towards where Flamberge and the travel pack lay. Disappointed that his scheme had been revealed,Yuri darted into the nearby foliage to hide, and to think of another strategy. For now, the foliage would help him buy time, and, he found himself unconsciously sneaking closer to where his stuff lay, guarded by his attacker.

If he was quick about it, he'd be able to jump out and grab his stuff before his assailant could reach. However, he knew by now to never underestimate an opponent, he needed to cause a distraction... gently feeling the ground beneath him with his hand, he quickly found a sizable rock... No, that would never work. His enemy would be easily able to figure it out...

Then, a light bulb seemed to go off in his head.

Moments later, he was climbing a tree as silently as one could do in freezing rain in the middle of the night. Even if he made a little bit of noise, the crazy wind and harsh rain quickly drowned it out. Soon, he found that he had gone up as high as he could, in this tree, in this weather at least. There was less than a few seconds of any sort of thought at all, before he jumped from one tree to the next. It did not take him long to land in his desired tree.

The largest tree in the clearing.

The tree where his stuff lay at the bottom of.

But, at the current moment, he had no intentions of regaining his lost items. Besides, he would not be able to pull that off just yet... He looked down to his assailant, who was scoping the foliage surrounding the clearing, unaware that his target was balancing delicately on a branch above him. The young swordsman smirked and readied himself.

Then, he jumped. There was the momentary feeling of falling, coupled with a rush of adrenaline, so that when he fell on top of his attacker, the pain was numbed. The both of them fell to the ground in a wrestling, scuffling mess. Yuri had wasted no time knocking the man's battle ax saw thing out of his hand and immediately had started trying to hold his opponent down.

However, his enemy was not going down without a fight. More than a few times Yuri was unable to contain the man's movements, and at least six times he felt actual blows land on his person. He soon found that the mans ax was not for show, there was quite a bit of real strength behind the show. He had to be quite careful that his adversary did not get his hands anywhere near his neck. If something like that happened, Yuri knew his head was liable to just pop off.

It took more than a few really tough minutes to fully subdue his adversary, as the man was not only strong, but smart. He's wait until Yuri was sure he was contained, and then suddenly almost overwhelm the young swordsman in feats of strength. And every time, Yuri was forced to think of something clever to help him keep his enemy down.

Finally, he had him.

Now what?

With the pouring rain and the calming winds, Yuri felt as though they had arrived at a standstill. The adrenaline was wearing off and he was beginning to grow very aware of his fatigue and the wincing pain from the bruises inflicted on him by his attacker. He needed to think of something, to do something, and quickly, before his enemy sensed weakness.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The words had come out before he could think of them. He found himself wishing he had taken his opponents mask off, to help him interpret what his captive was thinking, mouthing, or even just to make sure his enemy really existed and this was not another piece of the insanity he had experienced at Elydor's. He found himself adding with a slightly shaking voice, "Why did you attack me?"

There was initially no reply from his captive, except that he relaxed in Yuri's hold. There was a hint of deep breathing underneath the armor, as if his attacker was doing his best to calm himself. Yuri wondered if somehow, the deep breathing was some sort of fighting technique to blast an enemy off of you. He shook his head, where had such a ridiculous thought come from?

"You passed the test," His captive suddenly spoke out, his voice surprisingly monotone. Yuri was shocked to hear the man speaking, and much more astonished by his words. Test? What kind of test? Why was he being tested? He stopped thinking just long enough to hear the next part of the man's sentence, "Lord Sutsycrof cordially invites you to his private manor, Aelous."

* * *

><p>Sutsycrof watched the Aurora projected by the lacrime with a small smile, having seen some of the well known Lowell's battle prowess. The young man was just as intelligent and resourceful as his sources had claimed. And that was without the help of Dea's mark. Sutsycrof felt a growing sense of excitement just watching one of his soldiers fight Lowell.<p>

Even when relaxing and about to sleep for the night, the young man was not caught off guard. That could be a sign of paranoia. Then, even without a weapon, Yuri Lowell had managed to dodge and predict his enemies next moves. Lowell was well adjusted to combat, he was no stranger to fighting and probably had been doing such things for several years. Just a few minutes later, the young swordsman had came up with a strategy, however, when his enemy found out, he had immediately reverted to another scheme. Sutsycrof felt as though he could deduce that Lowell was clever with an able bodied mind. It had appeared that Lowell had been climbing trees and hopping the branches like some sort of monkey, and therefore, the Elite figured that Yuri Lowell was very fit and agile, quick too. Lastly, when Lowell had jumped out of the tree, surprised and restrained his enemy, he had taken care to knock the weapon away and stand quite a few blows in the following scuffle, and still had won. That probably meant that Lowell had a high pain tolerance and did not tire easily.

With all of his deductions in mind, the handsome ex commandant leaned back in his chair, diverting his eyes from the Aurora. An enemy like Yuri Lowell, a combatant, clever, agile, quick on his feet, strong, met with a high pain tolerance and a decent amount of stamina... Made sense, not just any kid could kill just about half of the elite like Lowell had done.

"What if Lowell does not show?" He heard one of his guards mutter to the other from their post at the door. There was one, tall and skinny with a round face and short thick hair, and a smaller round one with a thin face and short spiky hair. Both of them had their eyes trained on the Aurora projection, and were visibly impressed by Lowell's strategic and combatant feats. The tall skinny one, the one speaking turned to the other one continuing his thought with a chuckle, "That would really disappoint his lordship, huh?"

The two men sat back and laughed quietly among themselves, trying not to attract the attention they had already unknowingly attracted. Sutsycrof felt no malice towards his men, in fact he was rather pleased by their tact, trying not to offend him yet not keeping all of their opinions to themselves. It was a strange feeling, but one that he knew and gladly welcomed.

Turning back to the Aurora screen and watching Lowell talk with his messenger, Sutsycrof could only smile as Lowell nodded to something said by his former opponent. There was a moment in which the young man strapped on his belongings and grabbed his strange sword's sheath, before turning and following the other man out of the clearing. Without meaning to, as if to answer his mens questions, Sutsycrof mumbled, "He will come, he knows he must..."

* * *

><p>Just between Desier and Yurzorea was an incredibly small island, no more than a mile wide and a mile long. It was more a rocky cliff rising up from the sea and less an island. A small beach at the base of the cliffs the only way for a ship to moor there, however, the beach was usually covered by the high tide. And even if one managed to land there, they had to face the challenge of climbing the impossible heights of the cliff sides. However, if one did manage to scale the impossible cliff side, there was a beautiful reward to be had at the top of them.<p>

An old, abandoned Krityan village stood strongly against the sea winds and rain. The old white marble buildings, walkways, and towers were covered in moss, vines, and colorful wildflowers. A few old, yet clear pools dotted the landscape here and there, filled with lily pads and cattails. They were connected by small streams that had little fancy marble bridges across them. This place had been untouched by time for many, many years.

A giant among giants stirred, sleeping on an open expanse of the grass, his tail hanging over the edge of the cliff. It was a beautiful blue beast with a long gorgeous mane of yellow, orange, and red. It slept on peacefully, its breath exhaling into a small cave by the largest marble building. An ancient, no longer active, aer krene, known by none but the ancient Kritya of this place, lay deep down at the bottom of the tunnel. And even here, from the surface, screams could be heard from down inside.

At the bottom of the tunnel was an ancient cavern, with beautiful pictures and drawings on the walls. A figure of woman with hair and eyes of the sun dominated the walls, along with a figure of man with red hair. In the center of the room was a large pool of clear water, showing several gems laying at bottom, in nearly every color but red. But that isn't what was so important about this place.

"No, no, don't, please!" A man begged on the shore of the pool, the fright in his voice evident and the terror in his tone. Around him lay several fallen comrades, a few slowly rising back to their feet. His plea was in vain. A foot wearing a sleek blue boot kicked him in the face, sending him flying back into the waters of the pool.

The men stood up and backed away from the lone attacker, cowering against the wall as she turned to them. Beautiful blue hair and frightening red eyes greeted them, and they found themselves cowering in her shadow as she walked slowly and gracefully towards them, her spear discarded long ago near the entrance to the cavern. She stopped before them and licked some of her blood off of her upper lip, before breaking out in a rather sadistic grin.

"Well well, what was that you said earlier? About taking me out?"

* * *

><p>It had been a beautiful, clear night. At least, the clearest sort of night you could get in Tolbyccia. There had been few clouds in the sky, sure it was a little cold and surprisingly humid, but, for Tolbyccia, it had been beautiful. Until about half an hour ago when the heavens decided it would be funny to suddenly unleash a downpour that made one feel as if they were standing under a waterfall.<p>

Estelle sighed dejectedly, and when she had finally left her room to go on a walk for some fresh air and a change of scene. Too bad she had not brought her umbrella. And even though she was soaking wet, from head to toe, she still would rather stay outside in the rain, even if she did get a cold. She wasn't alone, Repede had, for some reason, stuck with her like glue ever since they had returned from Rechner.

She appreciated the company. Repede did not require her to speak and was fine to just sit with her in silence and let her think, but still provide stable company. Everyone else was always so busy, Rita was constantly with the rescued children, researching their lacrime. Raven was always watching over said children, as they did not seem too comfortable around the eccentric mage. Karol was sorting out all kinds of trouble with the other guilds and such, asking about RPT. Even Repede had kept an eye on her while she had become somewhat comatose.

Everyone was doing what they could while she had just sulked and cried. She knew she should know that sulking and crying was not going to get her anywhere. She had known that and yet... But really, what could she do here? She was the princess who ran away from home, again. She had a feeling and had followed it, and now she was wondering around on one of the grand bridges that lead into Dahngrest.

No...

She could not give up just yet!

Just then, she heard footsteps in the rain, and saw the large round shape of an umbrella approach her. Estelle squinted her eyes to try and see who was coming through the rain. Long hair, antenna? A Kritya? A feeling of excitement rose inside her as the figure approached. Was it Judith? Was she finally back from Mantaic? What had taken her so long?

As the figure finally stopped in front of her and turned to face her, Estelle felt her excitement die and her stomach plunge. It was not Judith. That figure was not hers, that face was not hers. Those azure eyes and that long azure hair was not hers. The one who stood before her, Estelle, could only be one of the council elite's, Luna Amynorp.

Estelle said nothing as Amynorp's cold azure eyes met hers, she could only feel fear as she saw the several guards that accompanied the Elite. She was stuck. There as no way she was getting out of this. Her voice may have been caught in her throat, but she already knew she was not going to go quietly. That is, until Amynorp spoke, her voice low,

"You want to see him again, Yuri Lowell, that is?"

* * *

><p>AN: JUDY! And also... DUN DUN DUN!

_"What do you mean Estelle is gone?"_

_"Well well, you look like shit."_

_"Mr. Lowell, I would suggest you head towards Mortis, and soon."_

**Next Time: The Separation : Sutsycrof II : Gale**


	26. The Separation: Sutsycrof II : Gale

A/N: I AM SO SORRY I AM TERIBLE AT KEEPING A SCHEDULE I AM SO SORRY LIKE SERIOUSLY.

* * *

><p>Raven sat in his bedroom at Brave Vesperia headquarters in Danhgrest. It was not too small, no more than twelve feet by twelve feet. He had two windows next to the corners of the room that showed the roof of the guild and the western sky, it was great for watching the sun set. The door was on the eastern wall, near the south east corner. Along the south wall was his desk, dresser, and a bookshelf, all made of a cherry oak. The headboard of his bed was up against the east wall along with a small end table, and his bed ran along the side of the north wall.<p>

His room was scarcely decorated, except for a few simple things that he didn't feel he could do without. A few flowers, lilies, sat in a vase on his desk. An orange and green cape in a similar style to those that the imperial knights wore was pinned up to his wall above his dresser. Personally, he had wanted to do away with it, but for some reason, he found he could not. Yuri had once told him that maybe it was better if it was always there, and somehow, Raven understood. The last thing he had as a decoration there was a large piece of cloth, square, that had the Brave Vesperia emblem printed on it. It hung on the north wall, just above his bed.

Speaking of his bed, he glanced back to it, where the two children they had brought back with them from Rechner slept. He had forfeited his bed and his sleep the second the children had walked into their guild. But it did not bother him, he had been camping out on the roof, watching the city and waiting to see the Knights arrive. It was thanks to that that he knew Estelle had gone out last night, and had not came back.

He heard her before he saw her. Her footsteps going up the stairs, and for a few moments it was quiet. Then again, quickly descending the stairway. He knew what was happening, and he knew it was in vain. Just a few hours before, Karol had done the same exact thing, and, he figured, Rita's search would yield the same results.

"Estelle's gone!" Rita exclaimed, bursting through the door with all of her overwhelming energy. Raven lifted an eyebrow, slowly taking in the mage's disheveled appearance. Her hair hadn't been that long now almost two years ago. Her bangs now nearly covered her eyes, and her hair was almost shoulder length. Usually it was somewhat fluffy, but right now, it covered her face in a tangled mess. She was panting, leaning against the open doorway. Clearly, she'd been searching frantically.

"I know." He replied evenly, a little nervous speaking to her. When it concerned the little princess, Rita was a little protective, like a mother bear, although she was three years younger than her friend. Raven scratched at his stubble a little as Rita absorbed the news, taking it much like a physical blow. Her moment of weakness did not last long, and a few moments later, she was already back on the case.

"Then why am I the only one looking for her?" She snapped, glaring at him. Raven threw her a reproachful look, before bringing his index finger to his lips. She was momentarily enraged, sensing this, Raven gestured to the sleeping children behind him. Rita closed her mouth, huffed, and then turned tail and left the room. He figured it took all of her will power not to slam the door after her.

He glanced towards Sennett and Ryker once more, checking to see if they were still asleep. When he saw that they had somehow, miraculously, remained asleep, he slowly stood up and followed after Rita, taking care to shut the door behind him gently. He did not want them to wake up, especially now that Rita was letting loose her temper and frustrations.

Raven stood in the long, slightly curved hall outside his bedroom. To his right, he could see several doors, each one mirrored by another on the other side. The boys and the girls each slept on separate sides of the hallway, a design that the little mage had came up with while they had been planning their guild. Across from his room was Judith's, and next to her's was Rita's, then Estelle's. Across from Estelle's was Yuri's, then Karol's, and then his again.

He could hear Rita down stairs moving about in a frenzy, and he knew Karol was running around the city, trying to garner more information about where the little princess could have possibly gone. The people of Danhgrest, who had once laughed at the poor boy, now had began to respect him, and some of the younger generations had even began to admire him. The city would answer his questions quickly enough.

But as for him, he knew that searching the guild and the city would prove pointless. He had suspected something to happen for a while now, and had been surprised that the Elite had not reclaimed the little princess sooner. He would bet his left arm that one of the Elite had cornered Estelle last night and had forced her to go along with them. Of course, it was going to be a bit difficult to convince the mage, but he'd cross that road when he got there.

He found himself suddenly in front of Yuri's empty room. The door was still open from when the swordsman had left the guild all those months ago, on his way to go visit the little lady. Not really thinking and letting his feet guide him, he found himself walking into the room and blankly observing it. It was much the same as his room, same size, similar set up, except for another window on the south wall that overlooked the city. There was the guild emblem on the tapestry on the north wall, and between the foot board of the bed and the west walls was Yuri's sword racks, two columns, from the floor to the ceiling, filled with swords. Flamberge's spot was empty, but that was because Yuri had decided to take it with him when he had went to visit her ladyship.

There was another sword rack on the swordsman's dresser, where he usually left his favorite blade when he was not carrying it. Raven turned around to face the dresser, only to be greeted with an startling sight. Second Star was no longer in its place, in fact, it was nowhere in the room.

What the heck was going on?

* * *

><p>This place was nothing like he had expected.<p>

The last three compounds he had been inside had been very stark, bare, full of dead and living corpses alike, trapped in iron cages and covered in filth. There had been men, women, children, and the elderly. The guards had been harsh and cruel, domineering and pointlessly ruthless. The architecture had given one the impression of an inescapable fate, making one want to just curl up on the uncomfortable floor and die.

At Aeolus, it was nothing like that.

This place gave off a relaxed, yet professional, atmosphere. It did not stink of the dead nor did it appear that way. The 'prisoners', if one could even call them that, were mostly men, dotted by the occasional woman, and they seemed...content, healthy, happy even. They were not locked up in uncomfortable steel cages, but instead, led into small rooms with a bed and a sink. The place was nice and clean, and smelled faintly like lilacs. The guards were laid back and less like guards and more like a friendly neighborhood watchman, easily communicating with the 'prisoners' and laughing with them.

Yuri was utterly confounded.

"Here we are Mr. Lowell." The guard who was leading him announced as they walked up to a slightly above average sized door, white in color with a teal swirl drawn upon it. The swordsman shook himself, his fingers brushing across Flamberge's grip, reminding himself to keep his guard up. He was probably walking right into a trap. In fact, he hoped he was, make things quick. He did not want a repeat of what happened at Rechner. Yuri forced down the painful memory as the guard knocked on the door, announcing their arrival.

"Send him in."

He recognized the voice, Sutsycrof was definitively in there. But even so, it could still be a trap. It seemed more likely that it was a trap with him there. To maybe make him overconfident and lower his guard. Too bad for them that such a thing would not work on him.

Yuri walked past the guard as he opened the door for him while keeping his eyes on guard the entire time. There would be no attacks from behind. He waited until he heard the guard step away and the door close before looking over to where he was sure Sutsycrof was standing. The room was modest compared to Ravk's office. In fact, Yuri was sure that Sutsycrof's office was the most modest of any of the Elite's.

"Yuri Lowell, there you are." Sutsycrof spoke again, drawing Yuri's attention right to him. There was a simple desk and somewhat comfortable chair behind it, and two more chairs with a simple side table between them flanked the front of the desk. A door was just to the right of the desk, and behind the desk on one side was a tall bookcase, crammed full of books. And the remainder of the wall was covered in filing cabinets. In fact, Sutsycrof was standing in front of one of them, flipping through it leisurely. "Aha! Here you are again!"

He held up a few pieces of bound paper, much like a small booklet, and started to flip through it, ignoring the fact that Yuri had come to kill him. The swordsman was at a loss. He could attack now and end this mans life, and be one step closer to his goal of protecting his friends and this world from whatever plan the Elite had laid out. His thoughts were interrupted as Sutsycrof began to read aloud.

"Yuri Lowell, age twenty two,no, twenty three? Height one hundred and eighty three centimeters. Born in the Lower Quarter of Zaphias. Mother, Nadia Lowell, prostitute, now deceased. Father..." Sutsycrof hesitated, his eyes lighting up almost creepily as Yuri watched him, an uncomfortable feeling growing inside of him, "Ahh yes... Illarion Volkov... I remember him. He was a soldier under me, back when I was the commandant, some twenty years ago."

He set down the packet on his desk and leisurely walked over to the bookcase, looking for something. He was open to an attack, Yuri knew he could kill the elite right now if he wanted to... but, something did not seem right. He did not feel like he should kill the man just yet. It felt like, it would be wrong to attack him right now... Annoyed with himself, he watched as Sutsycrof finally pulled a large leather-bound book off of the shelves, flip through several pages, before laying it open on his desk.

"There he is, Illarion Volkov, middle class citizen turned knight. Captain of his own regiment. I swear you look just like him." Sutsycrof muttered while Yuri peeked at the page of the book that Sutsycrof had set down. It was like a records book, on one page was the profile and picture of a young knight with blond hair, and on the other page was a man with shoulder length messy black hair and mischievous dark eyes. Yuri wondered if he truly looked like that. "You're even as nosy as he was... we had to have Ravk take 'care' him... he was learning too much."

Yuri wondered how long this plan had been culminating. His father had even been involved. He had never had parents, his mother dying to give birth to him and never having a father. It had never really bothered him too much, but remembering Nadia's sad face and seeing Illarion's mischievous one before him, it felt like someone had punched him in the chest. This was the first time he had ever seen his fathers face, the first time he knew who his father was. And even for someone who had never given the idea of parents much thought, it was painful.

He had to stop Sutsycrof now, before he was completely distracted.

"I did not come here to learn about my parents, Sutsycrof." Yuri growled, reaching forward and shutting the book on Sutsycrof's desk so he could no longer see that face. The elite just looked at him, raising one of his light green eyebrows, before picking up the book and gently placing it back on the shelf. He turned back to the discarded packet of paper from before, picked it up, and put it back in the filing cabinet.

"You are so impatient." The elite sighed as he looked over to Yuri. Sutsycrof stretched, before walking over to the door adjacent from the entrance. Yuri's eyes followed him, watching his every move. Was there something behind that door? A monster perhaps? "If you want to fight, come this way. It would be a hassle to fight here and I would rather not ruin my office."

Well, that had been easier than expected.

* * *

><p>The room that the Elite had led him into was large and spacious, but also appeared sturdy and well built. It was built of a dark cherry wood laid in concrete to form the walls, and the ceiling was arched, probably thanks to the obsolete blastia. Yuri wasn't too concerned with it. What Sutsycrof had just told him was bothering him, much more than he'd like to admit. Ever since he had seen the picture of Illarion, he could not get the image out of his mind, and whenever he did, it was replaced by Nadia's visage at the river of death, to beyond, whatever that place was.<p>

His parents.

No. He couldn't think about that now.

Forcing the thoughts of his deceased family out of his head, Yuri turned to face Sutsycrof, who just stood there, waiting patiently for the young swordsman. When he saw Yuri looking back at him, he nodded and smiled, before turning around and plucking up a mean looking set of warglaives that lay against the wall not even a few feet away from where he stood.

"I would ask you if you were sure...but," Sutsycrof murmured, gripping his warglaives as he turned to face the dark haired swordsman. Yuri grasped Flamberge, throwing out his arm to throw the sword's sheathe off into a corner of the room as Sutsycrof watched, slightly amused, "Somehow, I doubt you're the type to go back on something once you say it..."

Yuri kept his concentration on the elite across the room from him, wondering what exactly this man was playing at. After all, Sutsycrof had sent a challenge and an invitation to him, and when Yuri had first walked into his office, he had merely greeted him, rather politely at that, and started reading his file. Then, he had merely brought up his parents. What was he to expect next, a cup of tea before they fought to the death?

He didn't understand this man at all.

Sutsycrof turned to him, assuming a battle stance, holding the warglaives out and in front of him. Yuri copied his movements, and waited. He had no idea, no knowledge of Sutsycrof, and the man was nothing more than a complete mystery. He had been able to see and assume the type of personality of the previous three elite, but this one, this one baffled him. He couldn't figure anything about this man out... it honestly reminded him a little of Otets.

Except... the voices were completely different, their statures didn't match up, Sutsycrof was more stocky than Otets. Also, he got a completely different feeling around them. Around Otets, he felt strangely at ease. Around Sutsycrof, he felt as though the man knew everything about him, and not in a good way. At the same time, he got the feeling that Sutsycrof was an honorable man, who protected his men and what was important to him. But then again, he was plotting for the deaths of Ioder, Flynn, and the guilds. He couldn't be that honorable.

But comparing him to the previous elite, he was actually rather sorry that he was going to have to kill him.

They charged.

Sutsycrof spun his body, holding the warglaives close to his chest, their edges pointing away from him. Yuri knew better than to even try and defend from that attack, opting instead to back step away and out of the man's range, waiting for the attack to settle before charging back into his range.

Sutsycrof began to slow, and Yuri darted back into his range.

Yuri lifted his arm, Flamberge shining a bright, flame red, and began to bring the blade down in a smooth arc. He suddenly noticed that Sutsycrof was already bringing his warglaives up in an arc, mirroring Yuri's movements. Could he win in a battle of speed against this man? He wasn't sure, but he was feeling rather cautious, his recklessness curbed by the experience he had gained fighting the men called the elite. They had such a title for a reason, he had yet to defeat any of them without the help of the curse that he had been put under.

Honestly, he was sure he would have died long ago if not for the curse.

He stopped his attack halfway through, focusing instead on his defense, which proved to be a smart move. Sutsycrof's first attack was blocked, but then the elite lunged forward, using his solid stance to his advantage, easily knocking Yuri off balance and destroying his defense. In that moment, Sutsycrof brought his other hand and the other warglaives up and slashed at the defenseless swordsman, sending him flying back and leaving a nasty cut along his shoulder.

Yuri landed on his feet, hissing from the pain from his shoulder, his body already aching. He had rushed into this without thinking, without remembering the warning Otets had given him, and he was going to pay for that stupidity, and dearly. He was out of gels and most of his supplies, having not been to a town since his capture in Capua Torim, heck, he had not bought anything since Capua Nor. He was going to have to sneak to the nearest town after this, assuming he survived.

He stood up and blocked another attack just in time, barely able to defend himself from the man's relentless onslaught. This man was just too strong, much stronger than Alexei had ever been. He was more on Duke's level, and Yuri knew he was no where near that sort of strength, at least not yet. How the hell was he going to defeat this man? Was he going to have to tap into the curse's power so soon?

On the bright side, he had already figured out a few things about Sutsycrof. He had a a solid stance and swift attacks. His defense was like the earth, steady and solid, and his attacks were swift and thorough, like the wind. Perhaps it was because he had mastered opposing elements that it felt like it would be impossible to beat him. Well, just thinking about it wasn't going to get him anywhere.

He had seen a very thin window of time when the ex-commandant was completely defenseless. Yuri knew he would have to be very quick on his feet and swift with his attacks to even land a blow on the man, but, in order to get him when he was most vulnerable, well, it was going to have to be a matter of pure luck, and a little strategy. Also, he had time against him. He was already weakened, having not fully recovered from the hell he had went through at Elydor's. It was only a matter of time until he collapsed from exhaustion.

He made a move to block yet another attack, and sensing that his opponent had let down his defense, Yuri quickly pushed the elite away from him, throwing his body towards the man with a well aimed slice, throwing his blade into the air, followed by a kick and punch combination, and another slice as he caught his weapon in his outstretched hand, "Dragon swarm!"

The attack landed, and Yuri could see the result of it almost immediately, as two parallel wounds adorned the ex commandant's chest, thin lines of blood seeping through his vest. He heard a noise of approval from the older man, and suddenly felt a rush of dread as something green shined through Sutsycrof's shirt. A lacrime was there, at the man's collarbone, no bigger than Yuri's thumbnail.

That couldn't be good news.

Mr. Lowell, I have a question." Sutsycrof spoke softly, a spell circle beginning form underneath him, his lacrime glowing. Yuri could only watch in shock as the spell ended, and restored his opponents health. It was just like with Ravk and Elydor, he had thought that magic could no longer be used, with the exceptions of Estelle and Raven, and even then, the potency of the spells had been drastically decreased. "What is your reason for fighting? For seeking out the elite? Was it simply due to the spell Dea del Mondo cast upon you?"

So, was that her name?

"How do you know that? Do you know her?" Yuri snapped back, suddenly feeling a rush again. If he managed to get her name, tracking her down would be much easier. Dea del Mondo was a strange name, not common, if anyone heard anything about her, it would be something easily memorable, something that wouldn't be easy to forget. If he managed to live past this battle, there might be some hope yet. He blocked another attack from the ex-commandant, but could feel himself weakening.

It wouldn't long now, soon he would sink into his abyss of insanity. Then he could win this battle, and move on to his next victim. But, in the meantime, he could feel the adrenaline of the battle coursing through his veins, the excitement of do or die bouncing around in his body. And, he could feel the anticipation of cutting off his opponents head, watching it go flying through the air, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. He cackled rather loudly, not even realizing that his face was already split into an insane grin, as he blocked Sutsycrof's continuoius attacks. The man wasn't even intimidated by the phycotically grinning swordsman, and he liked that. He had yet to face an opponent that wasn't afraid of him when he went insane...

A sudden realization hit him in the chest, distracting him entirely from the battle. He guard dropped, Sutsycrof's attacks landed, this time sending him to the floor. He didn't move as he went over the realization in his head, repeatedly, the shock of it all dulling the pain from his wounds, dulling all of his senses and his mind.

He was beginning to rely on the power, the insanity. He was beginning to like it, like the fact that he chopped up his opponents mercilessly, like the blood that fell like rain. The looks of horror on the faces of his enemies and the cries of fear from all around him. He was turning into a monster, a monster without any trace of humanity. And he was liking it.

Yuri lay there for several seconds, not even realizing that Sutsycrof had long stopped attacking him, and was watching him in interest, as though observing a monster doing something strange. No. He wasn't a monster. The true monsters were the ones like Sutsycrof, who tortured innocent souls and- no... everyone he had seen inside Aelous seemed to like it here, this man actually treated people as people wasn't a monster.

Then who was? Was it him? Why was he fighting? Perhaps, it would be best if Sutsycrof killed him right here and now, before he hurt someone innocent of any crime...

Suddenly, he remembered a face of a young woman, trapped behind bars back at Rechner, handing him his equipment. A kind young woman who had chased him all the way to Tolbyccia, even though he knew not why. She was next in line to the throne, supported by the council unlike her cousin, Ioder, who was backed by the knights, and the current commandant, a serious young man full of detirmination.

That was right.

Yuri slowly forced himself to get up, his drive returning to him. He had to protect what was important to him.

Estelle, her kind smile and sweet innocent laughter. The way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Her beautiful eyes and gentle touch, her love of freedom. If the elite got their way, she would become nothing more than a caged bird.

The dark haired swordsman tightened his grip on Flamberge, forcing his thoughts to return, straighten out and make sense of his surroundings.

Flynn, his detirmination and drive to change the laws of the Empire, laws that favored the rich and left the poor to die. If the elite were to get their way, Flynn would die and those corrupt laws would remain, with no one to change them.

The dark haired swordsman turned to face Sutsycrof, his eyes awake, alert and bright.

Brave Vesperia. Repede, Karol, Rita, Raven, Judith, Ba'Ul. A guild built on dreams and goals of freedom, and doing what they thought was right. Should the elite get their way, Brave Vesperia, and all the other guilds, would perish.

Sutsycrof sighed, and charged. Yuri let out his breath slowly, readying Flamberge, waiting.

Ioder, a kind but wise ruler who was working to remedy the mistakes of the past, and prevent new ones from taking place. If the elite got their way, his work would have been in vain.

The ex commandant extended his arms, preparing to use an arte of some sort. Yuri waited, his eyes watching every move the man made.

The innocent civilians the world over. They would suffer from the consequences of a coup d'état as well, and they were already a little shook up of the sudden change in the world from about two years ago now.

Sutsycrof was almost directly in front of him, bringing back his warglaives in for the attack. Yuri just waited, any moment now would be the perfect oppurtunity, and one he couldn't afford to miss. Sutsycrof's attack had almost landed, when suddenly, Yuri thrust his fist forward, into the man's chest just as his warglaives touched upon Yuri's shoulders, and followed with a stab from Flamberge, as the warglaives left their mark on the swordsman. Then Yuri punched the elite again, this time, with as much strength as he could summon into his fist.

The risky strategy worked, and Sutsycrof' was thrown back, to the ground, landing roughly. He could see the opening, and without a momnets hesitation, Yuri jumped into the air, readied Flamberge, and landed on Sutsycrof's chest, the fatal strike complete. His blow had landed on the ex-commandant's lacrime, shattering it almost immediately. Beofre Yuri's very eyes, the good looking, young ex-commandant aged over fifty years, green hair turning white, youthful skin sagging, and wrinkles appearing on the otherwise youthful face.

Sutsycrof coughed, looking surprised that he had been defeated, and only then did Yuri figure it out. Each of the Elite had a lacrime somewhere on them, and that lacrime was their achillies heel. Somehow, the lacrime had kept them youthful and fully healed, and most likely, providing them with magic.

"Well done." Sutsycrof coughed, blood leaking out of the corner of his mouth as he lay there dying. Yuri moved off of him and sat to the side, listening to one of the most powerfull man's dying words. "Do you see how strong you can be when you are fighting for something worth while? You managed to defeat me without the help of Dea's curse."

"How do you know I was fighting for something worthwhile. I could have been fighting just because of the curse." Yuri responded, feeling a little more like himself than he thought he would. For having just fatally wounded an elite, ex-commandant, he was rather calm. Was it because he had managed to keep himself from falling into the depths of his growing insanity?

"No. Had you been fighting for something that simple..." The old man took in a shuddering breath, and Yuri listened closely, knowing that these words would be the ex-commandants last. And again, was struck by how calm he felt, and watched as the man breathed out slowly, closing his eyes "You would have lost yourself long ago..."

And he was still.

Forrest Sustycrof was dead.

Suddenly, he felt a lot more tired than he had thought he would be, and sighed, dropping his sword beside him as he sat beside the ex-commandants dead body, trying to sort out this thoughts. He knew it would be unwise to stay were much longer, when the gaurds discovered Sutsycrof's dead body they would most likely all rush to avenge him, and Yuri wasn't planning on fighting an army of gaurds anytime soon.

He was over halfway done, he had defeated over half of the elite now...Maybe he might manage this crazy thing after all.

Sighing, he glanced behind him to get his bearings. A guard was there, his sword high up in the air, already falling down towards the defenseless swordsman sitting before him. Yuri realized with a sense of dread that he was about to be decapitated by a guard, only after realizing that he was over halfway done with his sickening task.

The irony.

The guard above him suddenly had a blade poking out of his chest, and within seconds, the blade had been yanked out, and then a long spear swung around into the gaurd's side, tossing his asides in a fluid sort of grace.

He knew that fighting style.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

He knew that voice too.

"Judy, is that you?" He said aloud, hardly believing snatched up Flamberge from the ground beside him, swiftly rising to his feet and turning around to see his guild mate standing there behind him, calmly wiping the blood off of her spear."What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be in Maintaic?"

"Something came up," The red eyed kritiyan said calmly, waving off his question. She looked rather calm, although she must have battled quite a few gaurds to get in this far without an escort. He noticed a rather long cut on her lips, big and deep. That might scar if she wasn't careful. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be in Danhgrest, or even in Zaphias, visitng Estelle?"

"Something came up." He replied, facing away from her, glancing down at Sutsycrof's body once again. He had killed a good man, but, it was a small price to pay to keep everyone safe. He wasn't about to try to explain what he was doing to Judy or why, and besides, he couldn't. He had to figure a way out of here and to the nearest town... wheverer he was.

"Would it have anything to do with those Savage Wolf idiots who attacked me?" The woman with the long blue hair asked from behind him, shocking him with the information.

"Huh. Actually, yeah." Yuri sighed, turning around to face her. "And here I thought that they had dropped off the face of the world. Pity."

Before Judith could reply, the wall just to their right, and opposite from the entrance, flickered. The two fighters exchanged confused looks, before looking back at the wall as it flickered again. Slowly, as if afraid to startle it, both of them assumed their battle posistions, ready to try and fight whatever might emerge from that wall.

Instead, a transparent image of another Kritiyan woman, this one with long azure hair and eyes, pale skin as if kissed by moonlight, and wore the official robes of the council, although she left several of the buttons undone to show off the swell of her breasts. What was she, some sort of ghost or something? Yuri and Judith watched her cautiously as she looked around the room, her eyes finally landing on Sutsycrof's body.

Then, to their amazement, she spoke.

"I didn't expect you to survive... much less win against him." Her words were cold, emotionless, and directed at Yuri. Was this another one of the Elite? Well, he had some really good luck, he had kept getting captured or found by one elite after the other. Or, his his luck was really bad, he had barely a break between each kill. "But, your work has come to an end, Mr. Lowell."

What did she mean by that?

Suddenly, three figures formed beside her, two gaurds holding down a young woman with shoulder length pink hair, a young woman the two recognized.

"Estelle?" He didn't recognize his own voice, or the pain that was in his chest, the very real fear he felt. Even though he knew she was only an image displayed on the strange wall, he kept trying to reach her, after all, the other krityan woman could speak through it. "Estelle, are you alright?"

"She cannot hear you." The woman with the azure eyes said, looking at the two of them, eyebrows raised, a cruel smirk forming at her lips. "Cursed one, you have one week to arrive at my manor, Mortis. My associate will show you the way."

Yuri glanced over his shoulder and Judith turned around to see a man with blond hair at the entrance, a dark smirk thrown over to them. Yuri recognized that man, although he couldn't place from exactly where. He faced the strange projection of the woman, the gaurds, and Estelle, balling up his fists.

"What will happen if I am late?" He asked with a growl.

"Then..." The woman seemed to hesistate a moment, a look of almost practiced perplexion on her face, as if the question were a joke. Then, she let out a small, ah-hah, and looked at the swordsman, a look of cheerful malice on her beautiful face, "I will kill her highness instead."

* * *

><p>AN: Holy shit this one was long. I AM SO SORRY I AM TERIBLE AT KEEPING A SCHEDULE I AM SO SORRY LIKE SERIOUSLY.

Next Time:

"_Sodia, stay here and command the knights in my place."_

"_Don't worry, Yuri. Estelle is a lot stronger than that."_

"_That mark on your chest, it looks familiar." _

_**The Separation: Amynorp: Three**_


	27. The Separation: Amynorp: Three

A/N:

* * *

><p>Explaining this to the Commandant of the Knights certainly was not an easy task.<p>

Explaining how Brave Vesperia had failed to keep an eye on even one little princess was humiliating, but even so, Flynn didn't seem to be blaming them, and Raven rather appreciated that. It almost seemed, that like Raven, Flynn had predicted that the council might make their move on the little missus. However, even though Flynn understood the situation and what seemed to have happened, it wasn't going to stop his knights from talking. The guild's reputation would suffer even further.

Karol had returned from his information gatherings less than half and hour after he'd left, looking annoyed and pleased all at the same time. He had explained that he had gone to see Kaufman, of Fortunes Market, hearing that she had came into town last night just around the time Estelle had last been seen. She had been in a cruddy mood, so, the young man had to cut a deal with her in order to get the information he wanted.

He had said he would tell them what the deal he had cut later, after they had discussed the most urgent matters. As if on cue, the Imperial Knights and the remaining rescued prisoners from Rechner arrived in Dahngrest. For the next day and a half, people had been frantically setting up a refugee camp, working on feeding and assisting the rescued civilians. With the Knights and the guilds of Dahngrest combined effort, they had managed to save the less than thirty remaining survivors from almost certain death.

Rita had nearly worked herself to death, studying the lacrime and doing her best to observe the reactions it had when exposed to different levels of mana. She was obsessed in finding out exactly what the Lacrime were, how they worked, and how come that when equipped to the body, they could use mana to generate artes and magic.

Ryker and Sennett had made the mistake of revealing their abilities to her, and with the prospect of the possibility of regaining her magical artes, he could not blame her for being so suddenly obsessive. Also, he knew this would explain why Elydor could use magic artes without the aid of aer and blastia, something that had been bugging them for quite a while now.

But, that mattered but a little now, as they sat in the main hall of Brave Vesperia, gathered around a round table. He, Karol, Rita, The young commandant and his second in command sat together, discussing the next plan of action. Karol was leaning forward, into the conversation, eager to understand what was going on. Rita sat back, her eyes distant and dark, probably thinking all sorts of dark things. The young commandant and his lovely lady friend with the stern look sat almost identically, both of them proper and knightly.

And then there was him.

He and the commandant were the ones directing the conversation, so he supposed he appeared to be immersed, but, his mind was reeling off five hundred things a second, and his logical process was having trouble keeping up. There was so much they didn't know, and he felt as though it was unlike him to rush in without plentiful information and planning.

But then again, he had no idea where the little princes might actually be.

He could hear the commandant talking with the boy, and was grateful that the conversation had turned away from him for the moment. He went to relax and truly allow himself to think on the matters at hand, where the little princess might be. Its not exactly as if the Elite or Zaphias was exactly safe at the moment, not after what had happened in Rechner. Who knows what could actually be going on behind the scenes with the elite, first Suingam, then Ravk, and then Elydor.

He had known, if even slightly, about the existence of the lacrime, and the locations of the manors. It came with working for Alexei for a little under ten years, learning the dirty secrets of the empire that they would much rather just keep hidden. If the common folk knew even half of what he knew, he figured they might try and stage a rebellion against the Empire.

Not that he could blame them. The Empire hadn't been doing the best for its people for almost ten years now. And just recently, that same new Emperor had allowed the blastia to be converted away. Although it was for the good of the world, not everyone had seen it that way. Life was harder without the blastia, and the citizens of the empire might not be willing to give the new Emperor, Ioder, the chance he deserved. Heh, the more he thought about it, the more he began to think that there was some sort of conspiracy going on behind the scenes.

"Well, the only relevant information I got was from Kaufman." Karol's voice snapped the older man out of his reverie just in time, as he found he had completely zoned out during the conversation. "One of her people, trustworthy too apparently, said they saw a girl with pink hair wearing a white, yellow, and pink dress being taken away by imperial guards. Oh, apparently there was another woman there too, a Krityan...but..."

"But there's no way Judith would do that." Rita finished from Karol's right, suddenly immersed in the conversation. Her eyes were hard as she put her hand over her mouth, her palm cupping her chin. Without meaning to, she smoothed back some of her growing bangs from her eyes... she really needed to get them cut. Although it was only a two or three inches, the length didn't suit her. She also seemed uncomfortable with it, although she was too lazy to do anything about it herself, at least, until it became too much of a pain.

"Yeah... the first person I thought of was Judy too... but then I asked the source to describe the woman," Karol nodded, glancing over at Raven, then to Rita, and back to Flynn and his second in command, Sodia, he believed her name was. "He said that the woman he saw was tall, with pale skin, azure hair, and wearing these strange robes with the insignia of the Empire of them."

"Amynorp, of the Elite." Flynn's voice was no more than a whisper, as if he had realized something terrible. Raven was certainly curious to hear what he had to say, and leaned forward as the blonde stared down into his lap, his expression dark. "It would be most unwise of us to trust Lady Estellise's safety to that woman."

"You're coming aren't you?" Rita said with her usual air, now standing over by the back wall, ever unable to sit still. She had a small scroll in her hands, looking back and forth over its contents, her green eyes gleaming with determination, and strangely enough, excitement. She rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it inside her belt, before turning around and facing the table. "To help rescue Estelle, that is?"

"I..." Flynn hesitated, as if contemplating something, and Raven had a feeling he knew what the young blonde commandant was thinking. As much as an advantage bringing the knights with him to Mortis would be, the disadvantages would far outweigh the advantages. It would be best to sneak in and rescue the little princess using stealth. Of course, they had terrible luck when it came to using stealth, but, if they tried bursting through the front with the knights, Amynorp could easily crush them.

The woman was a legendary enigma, and even Raven felt a little uneasy challenging her. While the other elite simply did away with their opponents, Amynorp, she made her enemies suffer a different kind of hell. Several different kinds of hell. He had heard rumors of the results of her string pulling, people being assassinated without contracts and for no pay. She had an entire world at her fingertips, eagerly awaiting her next command

And he heard she was something fierce when angered.

"I am going to go with them. Sodia." The young commandant seemed to have made up his mind, again, snapping the oldest member of Brave Vesperia out of his rambling thoughts. Before the woman could voice her, no doubt, opposing opinion, the blonde commandant turned to face her completely, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Please. Sodia, stay here and command the knights in my place. At least until I return."

"Against Amynorp, commandant? Who's to say..." Sodia paused looking down and away from the blonde knight beside her, but Raven caught on. He was rather impressed by her knowledge of the Elite, not just anyone knew such things like that. He felt his opinion of her slightly rise as he mentally completed her phrase in his head, the rather haunting truth of her words echoing around in his head.

Who's to say you will return?

* * *

><p>It had been far too long since he had flown on the Fierta.<p>

Far too long since he had felt this free.

Perhaps it was because he was flying right now, he was separated from the Earth, a being apart from it. When you traveled across the earth on foot, carriage, or even boat, you felt to be part of the world, like you belonged. You, and everybody else, all moving across the world like a bunch of ants on an anthill, a small part of a whole. There was always a sense of calm belonging, but a sense of restriction.

You didn't feel that while flying.

It was as if you weren't a part of anything, you were you, the individual, outside of the whole, operating and living independently. He liked that about flying, being able to see the whole world in a matter of a few days, to travel across great area that quickly, when travel normally took months. It made getting to places and doing things so much easier. The only downside of flying was how cold it got up in the sky, especially at night.

He hated the cold.

Speaking of which, night was beginning to fall. He would have to let himself rest soon enough, but first... he had to deal with Judy. He had to know what she was doing at Aeolus, what had happened when she ran into Savage Wolf, and why she had taken so long to, well, frankly reappear. Karol and the others were probably going nuts worrying about her, whether they showed it or not.

He wondered how they were all doing right now. Not just Brave Vesperia... but Flynn, and Estelle too...

The dark haired swordsman felt a tight pain in his chest, and decided to ignore it, pushing it aside.

"So, what took you so long while you were in Maintaic?" He spoke suddenly to the woman just behind him and to his right. She had been standing there for a while, silently observing him, almost as if evaluating him. She was too damn smart, if he wasn't careful, she would figure out more than he wanted her to... but, knowing Judy, she probably wouldn't care as much as the others... unless she somehow figured out that he turned into a raving lunatic whenever he fought for too long.

Even Judith wouldn't like that.

"I got a little...sidetracked." From the way she spoke, Yuri knew there was a lot more than that to her story, but didn't pry. If she thought it was important for him to know, she would tell him. She shifted her red eyes to look up to the rising moon as they stood on the deck, bathed in the moonlight. "It's something sort of hard to explain...it'll be easiest to wait until Brave Vesperia is all together again..."

So it was guild business.

"Well then, tell me what happened with Savage Wolf." Yuri changed the subject for her, as he already had plenty of questions that he felt needed to be answered. He wanted to know what that despicable guild was up to, Asalle's promise still fresh in his mind. "The last time I ran into them, it got me in a quite a bit of trouble."

"Trouble? You? I never would have guessed." Judy replied dryly, closing her eyes and moving away from the edge of the Fiertia, closing her eyes and touching her forehead for a moment, communicating with Ba'Ul. Yuri waited, a little amused by her reply, when she suddenly spoke up again. "This is another thing that should be discussed with everyone else...however, given the situation we are in, I'll tell you this. Savage Wolf is planning to annihilate Brave Vesperia."

"What?" Yuri didn't mean to sound as surprised as he did. He knew Savage Wolf was a customer of the Elite, and part of the Elite's plan was to annihilate Brave Vesperia, and most of Danhgrest and Nordipolica. But at the same time, he couldn't help but add, "I knew I pissed them off, but I didn't think I pissed them off that much. Sheesh."

He was unusually calm, and it was scaring him.

He knew that as soon as they landed wherever this "Mortis" place was, he'd send Judy on her way. He couldn't let any of his friends get caught up in his mess, no matter how strong they were. That was why he had left the castle like he had, to make sure no one but him had to deal with this problem. He couldn't forget that. Even if he might have managed to keep the monster inside of him at bay once, who was to say he could do it again?

The last thing he wanted to do was harm any of his friends.

"So...why were you at Aeolus?" Yuri found himself asking, this time keeping his voice steady and even. He had gotten cocky, thinking that perhaps he had maybe pushed back the insanity inside of him, but, he knew he wouldn't be able to escape it. Not now, not ever. It would always be there, in the back of his mind. He needed to remember his place. Heh. To think that he, of all people, had though such a thing.

"Ba'Ul sensed a strange power source, and was following that, which led me directly to where I wanted to go, as the Savage Wolves who tried to kill me said that they had been hired by the man who lived in the hidden manor south west of Nordipolica, next to the mountains." Judith smiled, looking up at the sky once again, her voice calm. "I was going to deal with the man who had sent such fiends after my guild, only to find you had beaten me to the punch. Also... Ba'Ul is confused about the power source. He says there's two of them, and he says he's always felt both of them in this world, but, they are different than before."

"They? The lacrime maybe?"

"Maybe." Judith replied, giving him another analytic look. Suddenly, Yuri found himself having the distinct feeling that Judith didn't think it was just the lacrime. It made him uncomfortable, and he decided to ignore the thought for a while. "And maybe not. You and I both know that there is always more than meets the eye on these sorts of situations, wouldn't you agree, cursed one?"

He wasn't liking where this was going. Just what did she know?

He found himself moving away from his spot, moving over to where their third passenger remained, looking over the edge of the Fiertia, watching the ground below dispassionately. He was their guide to this "Mortis" place, and Yuri knew he had met the man before, and not with a good feeling either. He had been a so called 'cowardly' assistant of Suingam, Ravk, and Elydor, leading each of the elite right to him.

He would like nothing more than to toss this man over the edge of the ship and down to the world below, but... he would never find Mortis in time without the mans help. And, he thought with a painful tightening in his chest, Estelle didn't have that much time. Out of anyone that Amynorp could have captured, did it really have to be her?

"Are you worrying about Estelle?" Judith seemed to read his mind, usually, he didn't mind. Then again, they weren't usually in a situation like this. He hated it when people read him like a book, especially when it concerned his feelings for others. He turned away from the Krityan as she sighed in annoyance, looking off into the sky again, "I don't blame you, that woman was a real piece of work."

"You're supposed to say things like, 'don't worry' and 'she'll be fine'," Yuri replied dryly, looking out into the night sky, his eyes finding Brave Vesperia instantly. It was Estelle who had given them the name for their guild, and it had been Estelle who had told him the legend behind it, that night in Nordipolica. Yuri closed his eyes and sighed, the pain in his chest not going anywhere. He turned around to see Judy giving him one of her knowing smiles, a look that unnerved him. He hated it when people looked like they could see what he was thinking, or feeling.

"Don't worry, Yuri. Estelle is a lot stronger than that." Her voice was rather calm, and sounded like a soft bell, copying the tone and cadence of his voice from moments earlier. It was comforting yet unnerving, and he doubted he had ever had such a friend, other than Flynn, who could read him so well. "She'll be fine. And she's probably giving that woman a run for her money."

"Heh." Yuri looked down, over the edge of the ship as they flew over Hyponia. If only he could be that optimistic right now.

* * *

><p>Estelle stared at the blank wall in her holding room. Amynorp had kindly gifted her this room, considering the conditions of her capture. The room was barely ten feet long and wide, made almost entirely of concrete, with one window on the west wall and a wooden door on the north wall, with one inexpensive bed, nightstand, and chair shoved against the east wall. It certainly wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best either.<p>

At least they had yet to return her to the capital.

She was sitting down on the bed, watching the sky through the small window, her fingers running over Second Star absently. This room reminded her of the castle, of her growing up as a caged little bird. If she didn't manage to get out of here, her past would become her future, except, this time she'd be a wife of a man she barely knew and did not love. And then, like her mother, maybe she would die early too, perhaps of heartbreak, passing her memento onto her child, so that they wouldn't be lonely.

She rather hoped not. She wanted a much happier future than that.

Estelle was surprised she had been allowed to fetch the sword, but only after being warned that should she be seen by any of her guild members or seek any help, that Brave Vesperia would be destroyed instantly, and Danhgrest would suffer her wrath as well. And considering it was Amynorp, Estelle believed her. She would believe any threat that that woman made in a heartbeat.

She wondered how Amynorp knew about Yuri...then again, according to her handmaidens, it wasn't exactly a secret. In fact, she would listen to the maids stories of her and Yuri, usually in embarrassment, considering the things that the maids would gossip about. Things like love, lust, and a love story that could never be.

And no matter how many times she told them that Yuri had never done anything improper to her, they insisted to keep with their gossip of the two of them. What was it that they said, "a story of a forbidden love". She knew that the maids wrote their own little novels about her and Yuri, fantasizing about "the devilishly handsome man with a heart of ice who'd fallen for the naive princess".

Just thinking about was embarrassing.

No wonder Amynorp knew.

Forcing those thoughts aside, Estelle began to wonder why Amynorp had brought up Yuri in the first place back at Danhgrest. And just now, she had her guards hold her in place for several minutes for no good apparent reason, and then had them release her, letting her know that once the pest was taken care of, she would be shipped off to the capital to marry Haigos Evaristus-Lampo Leimer for the sake of the empire.

Then it clicked. Yuri was the pest Amynorp wanted to be rid of. She was an Elite after all, and Yuri had been going around killing the elite. It would only be a matter of time until he appeared at the beautiful elite's doorstep, and then, Amynorp planned to somehow use her, Estelle, against him. The pink haired girl tightened her fists around Second Star.

Perhaps she had known this all along, which is why she had begged to bring the sword, wishing to give Yuri the best chance he had at winning this inevitable battle that was drawing ever closer. She didn't know what she would do when she saw him again, but she knew that he was most certainly coming, and in that moment, it was enough.

* * *

><p>The blonde man in the suit that Yuri seemed to somehow know had announced that this was where they would have to disembark. He was only allowed to bring the cursed one to Mortis, to where Judith knew the other Krityan woman hid, with Estelle locked away somewhere inside. Scratch that, hopefully locked away somewhere inside, she didn't want to have brought Yuri here for it to only be a trap. Which it probably was anyway, and she was sure he knew it.<p>

He was hiding something. Not even just the whole "cursed one" business, but his strangely distant attitude that he only took up when he was feeling moody or brooding over something he'd done. Right now, she couldn't say for sure, although she and Ba'Ul already had a few good, solid ideas on what was going on. That was part of the reason she had returned to the remains of the city of truth, Kleoryen after feeling the disturbance of the balance of power she had felt while in the sands of Kogorh. She hadn't found what she was looking for the first time she was there, at Kleoryen, simply because she hadn't known what she was looking for.

"That mark on your chest, it looks familiar." She had said it before she knew what she was thinking really, and although he had maintained a good poker face, she could see right through it. That mark on his chest that looked so familiar to her had something to do with it. And the blond man in the suit had referred to Yuri as "cursed one". Could the mark be a curse mark? And if so, what sort of curse was he under?

Unless "cursed one" was a nickname because Yuri had absolutely terrible luck.

However, in light of recent events, she felt that such a thing was unlikely.

At least now she knew exactly what to look for. Another link in the chain that would help explain everything. She understood the puzzle, but she couldn't see all the pieces yet. Soon, soon she knew she would. But first thing first, Estelle had to be rescued and Yuri had to survive and overcome whatever trap Amynorp had set for him.

She, in the meantime, would head back to Dahngrest and pick up the rest of the guild. She knew that they were there, she just knew it. Also, they would probably also want to help rescue Estelle if they could. Ba'Ul, reading her thoughts, sped up, flying south for a shorter trip to the guild city. If they hurried, they could be there and back by tomorrow.

She hoped that wouldn't be too much time, and that Yuri would only be arriving to Mortis by then. True, she might not know where Mortis might be on Hyponia. But, she always could ask Ba'Ul to track Yuri, and it wouldn't be a problem, thanks to the strange power his body had taken to emitting at all times. It had been so powerful she had had trouble standing close to him, speaking with him, and she knew Ba'Ul had felt rather wary of him, and worried for her safety.

What exactly was Yuri's curse?

* * *

><p>He hadn't worn normal clothes since... hell, he couldn't remember.<p>

Flynn looked at himself in the mirror. He had never expected to have to disguise himself in order to sneak into one of the Elite's manor's. He would have gone in his knightly getup, had the young Karol not pointed out that he would stick out like a sore thumb. Also, he didn't want to be recognized so easily, and so, the young boy had dragged him out for a while around the city, although discreetly, to a guild called "Commonwealth", since Fortune's Market was still recovering from the goddess-knows-what. And while standing under the banner declaring "Put your faith in Commonwealth: Ricchezza per tutti", he had let the sales person at the stall take his measurements for a disguise.

The blonde was wearing a white loose v neck shirt with long and billowing sleeves tied at his wrists, a dark blue sleeveless vest that had a brown belt at the middle, and another one going diagonally from his shoulders to his waist. The vest was just a little long, slightly layering over the somewhat loose dark brown leather pants that were tied mid-calf and stuffed into the much darker brown boots. He had attached his sheathe and sword to the belt, and his shield attached to the back.

He didn't look anything like himself.

The blonde sighed, knowing he was going to be breaking so many laws by doing this. He was the commandant of the imperial knights, and he was sure setting a bad example. He had told Sodia to tell the knights that he had came down with a really bad cold, and that they would be taking a few days to rest and recover from their hike, so they wouldn't get suspicious if he wasn't around for a few days.

Hopefully he looked normal enough that no one would look twice at him. He honestly felt that he looked like a lame excuse for a pirate. Then again, there was a few in Danhgrest with such a sense of style, it wouldn't be all that hard to sneak out pretending to be one of them. As embarrassed as he was by the get up, he wasn't about to let it foil his plans.

A head on assault against Amynorp would never work, which is why he had agreed to infiltrate her mansion with Brave Vesperia. However, while he was with them he would not tolerate any looting or scavenging, or, at least, that's what he told himself. They were in a guild after all, and even with the friendship treaty, knights could not order around the guilds. Even if he could, he doubted he would. But he, he would not break any more rules than he had to.

Oh god why had he agreed to this?

At that moment, he felt a familiar nose rub against his hand and looked down to see Repede looking up at him expectantly. It didn't take him long to figure out that Repede wanted him to follow him. Flynn smiled and nodded to the canine, taking one last look in the mirror, before turning away and following his friend out of the room.

For being a new guild, Brave Vesperia's current HQ wasn't very small, but, it wasn't obscenely huge either. It was a mere two stories, the bottom floor consisting of the guild's business and social manners. There was the main hall where jobs were commissioned and accepted, a small bar and dining area, a decently sized lounge area, and a small meeting room which they had used just earlier today. The upstairs was a single long hallway with eight rooms. Six of them were bedrooms, one was an office, and the last one was a storage room.

It was a rather homely HQ, but it suited Brave Vesperia rather nicely.

Raven, and Rita awaited him, waiting patiently. He wanted to ask where the youngest member of the guild was, but he figured that he would show up soon enough. He was probably just preparing for the upcoming challenge. After all, they were breaking into the most influential of all the Elite's mansion. There was no telling what kind of trouble they might get into, and they needed to be adequately prepared.

"Are ya sure you wanna do this, kid?" He heard the eldest member of Brave Vesperia ask, and turned to face him. Raven was standing up straight, with his arms behind his head and looking rather relaxed. The young commandant listened carefully as the older man spoke, knowing that there was knowledge in his words. "If you get caught, you'll have to take the fall, you know."

"I know." The blonde replied, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. Before glancing out the open door, where Sodia stood, talking to another one of his knights. They had simply chased after Lady Estellise and Yuri... but now, things were different. Even so, rescuing Lady Estellise came above all else, but it was Amynorp who was his opponent. This wasn't an enemy he could face using his own methods. "I will do what I have to in order to fulfill my duty and do what is right. The law will not punish Amynorp, and neither shall I. Right now, I am merely a friend of Lady Estellise, who wants her to be safe."

"So you already have an excuse if all else fails?" Rita said, her tone incredulous. He glanced over at her as she faced him, shaking her head. What did she expect from him, for him to be a goody two shoes all the time? Well, he already was feeling a slight bit guilty but that didn't change things. He was going to go in anyway."I don't believe it."

Before they could carry on their conversation any longer, the youngest member of Brave Vesperia came sprinting back into the guild. Everyone stopped and looked down at him, waiting for him to catch his breath. The boy placed his palms on his knees while he leaned over, breathing heavily, waiting for the spell of exhaustion to pass. He must have some very important news, and Flynn could only hope it was good news.

"Judy...Judy's here!" Karol gasped, much to everyone's amazement. He continued, struggling to speak, "She's asking us to hurry...says she'll explain along the way... but... it seems that Yuri's gone to rescue Estelle!"

Well, he had asked for good news.

Except, he was not sure if that was considered good news at all.

* * *

><p>AN: Another one... getting closer... :D

_"Oooh, what sort of moron designed this place?"_

_"RPT...wait, r...p...t?"_

_"Whats going on here?"_

_**Next Time: The Separation: Amynorp : Two**  
><em>


	28. The Separation: Amynorp: Two

A/N: And another! Boom, getting so close!

* * *

><p>He had been rather lucky that it had been Judith whom he had met up with before now. Sleeping overnight on the Fierta had been a great help, and Judith had also kindly given him some supplies before dropping him off on Hyponia. He now had several gels, some panacea bottles, and some food, just in case. As nice as having all of that was, he knew that it was last nights good sleep that had helped him the most.<p>

Already, he had fought with several of the monsters on Hyponia, but he hadn't had to use any of his precious and limited supplies yet. It had been almost a day and a half since Judith had dropped him and his escort off on the southern continent. He hoped that she had went to Danhgrest and stayed there, finding out the truth about him.

Who was he kidding?

Estelle had been kidnapped, and if that was the case, there was no way Brave Vesperia couldn't resist going to save her. But then again, Judy's words about Savage Wolf rang in his ears. He shook his head, there was no way that Brave Vesperia would fall to such an inhumane guild as that one. There was no way that anyone in Brave Vesperia had fallen before such a pathetic guild. Estelle had been kidnapped, that's all he could bring himself to believe.

He hoped she was alright, that krityan woman looked real evil. He'd bet that there was nothing she wouldn't do in order to succeed at her goal. Yuri sighed and soon found himself thinking, perhaps that woman and he were not that different. All the while he brought his hand to the mark under his collarbone, caressing it absent-mindedly.

Ah, that was odd, there was a bump there.

Yuri decided he'd investigate it later, when he had more time and wasn't worried about Estelle and Brave Vesperia. The swordsman had a lot of faith in his guild, but, if they were facing Savage Wolf and the Elite too, well, he wasn't so sure anymore. He had the 'help' of the curse, and he had been getting quite beat up, and often been on deaths door. He wasn't sure how those without it could cope in the face of such an adversary.

And... he was over thinking again.

Yuri followed his guide quietly, keeping a close eye on his surroundings. He didn't recognize where they were at, it didn't seem to be anywhere near Aurnion, Baction, or even Egothor. But, they definitely were on Hyponia, as Judith had dropped them off near Egothor forest, and they had been walking for almost a day and a half straight, no breaks or stops.

"We're getting close." He heard his guide say, as they again left the forest and stepped out into the plains. Yuri averted his eyes from the intense midday sun and wordlessly followed the blond man in the suit out into the open. Yuri could only see another set of trees and another line of mountains in the distance, but no clear destination. Hopefully, this wasn't some sort of test, and his guide wasn't just leading him around for shits and giggles while the woman sat back in her chair, laughing and wondering when to kill the princess.

No... he wouldn't let that happen!

"It's just up ahead." Yuri heard his guide says, stopping and pointing at the upcoming mountain. The swordsman stopped behind him, his eyes drifting upwards to take in the full view of the mountains. Now that he was focusing his attention on them, he noticed that one of the mountains wasn't the same as the others."That mountain there, in the center, the one that is slightly off color."

Not only was it slightly off color, but he noticed that the shape was different too. The other mountains on Hyponia were slightly more worn down, older looking mountains than the ones on Yurzorea, who still remained upright and rather sharp and scraggly looking, not having been too damaged by the effects of erosion and time. But the mountains on Hyponia were somewhat older than Yurzorea's, having been worn by the passage of time.

The mountain that stood before him wasn't as so, the color of it was slightly off, like his guide had pointed out, and the shape of the mountain was unnatural. He supposed that no one would notice it, that is unless they looked directly at it for more than a passing glance, or if they were right in front of it, like he soon would be. It was amazing, yet utterly frightening all at the same time. If someone had the sort of money and time to be building something like this, they would have to be truly fearsome.

He had been some pretty amazing places on his journey. Suingam's hideout had been in the middle of a forest, besides a city of scholars, yet, he hadn't been discovered by anyone until Yuri had followed after Savage Wolf. Even his compound couldn't be seen from the air. Ravk's place had been close to Caer Bocram, balanced between the edge of a cliff and mountains, over a steep gorge and river, yet few people had known where it was. Rechner had been buried beneath the sand, and Aeolus had been built between mountains.

Or did the Elite just like building their hideouts in ridiculous places? Maybe trying to one up each other?

It wasn't long until he and his escort stood just before the strange, man-made mountain. He could only stare at it as his escort walked up to the mountain, and began to observe it. Yuri watched him blankly, wondering where the entrance could be hidden. There didn't seem to be any obvious signs of an entry point, and already, he could see that the mountain was very steep, with no paths up its sides. Already, he was beginning to feel a sense of dread.

Suddenly, he heard and felt a slight rumbling.

The swordsman looked back over to his guide, who stood beside a strangely colored stone, his hand on it. Not even a meter away, a larger stone, shaped in almost a perfect circle, slowly rolled away, revealing a dark tunnel. The dark haired male looked back at his escort, who then removed his hand from the stone, and without a word, turned and walked into the tunnel.

And, without a word, Yuri followed.

* * *

><p>"Where have you been, Judy? We've all been so worried about you!"<p>

"Sorry to make you worry," Judith replied, turning to Karol, who sat just in front of her, with her kind smile in place and hands clutched firmly behind her back. Rita knew better just by looking at the krityan, Judith wasn't all that sorry, in fact, it seemed that the she had something more to tell them, about what she had been up to, and the goddess only knew what else. "There's so much I need to tell you all, but that can wait until later. First, I would like you to tell me what Yuri has been up to."

"But didn't you just see him, Judith-darlin?" Raven asked from his favorite perch near the starboard side of the ship. Rita didn't bother looking at him, but she figured he was leaning forward slightly, one of his eyes closed and his hands above his head, cupping the back of it while he interrogated the busty woman. "It's been quite a while since we've last seen him, so I don't know what information we could offer you that you don't already know."

"True. I had just seen him." Judith agreed from beside the door that led to below deck, her arms now crossed in front of her, yet her body leaning slightly back. Rita watched her, her suspicions growing by the minute as the krityan woman spoke. "But I can't deduct hardly anything from what I know alone, it would be most useful if you all would tell me what he's been up to since I last saw him. Since I took off to Mantaic."

There was a silence, no one particularly wishing to think about the last time they had saw the swordsman.

"He had came to Zaphias, to visit Lady Estellise."

Everyone looked towards the young man who had spoke up, even disguised as a member of the guilds, he still possessed an air of justice and truth, the air of a knight. Flynn was looking over the edge of the ship, and towards the sky above, his face was contorted in concentration, as if struggling to remember the details of so long ago.

"Yeah, it wasn't long after you left, Judy, that Yuri left." Karol muttered from beside the ship's controls.

"At first, everything seemed normal... then... one day, he came to visit the castle...I spoke with him later in the day, telling him that I was suspicious of the elite. He knew something, but he kept saying that it was too dangerous to speak out in the open, and that he would tell me later." Flynn paused, and looked down at Repede, who looked back up towards the blond and let out a strong bark. Flynn smiled gently, before looking back up to Brave Vesperia, and continuing his story.

"The next morning, Repede brought Sodia to Bluebell Meadow, just outside the capital, where she found Yuri laying unconscious, and brought him back to the capital. We hid him in my room, and I went to talk to him once he had awoken, as to why he had been there of all places. Three times he tried to speak to me, and three times, he suddenly lost his breath or reacted to something in pain. I assumed he had listened in on something the elite had said, and tested him by asking if he had got caught, to which he had replied something along the lines of 'I'm not that careless.'"

"Later that night, I went to confront him, but instead I was met with a man who had already decided his fate. I tried my best to find out what he had heard, what might have went wrong, but Yuri wouldn't, or couldn't tell me. We fought, but when our blades crossed... Yuri's eyes seemed to deaden, and he suddenly overwhelmed me with an impressive display of strength...and to top it off, he jammed Flamberge's pommel into my side."

"And then, later, while pursuing him, I find he's the one killing the Elite, always by beheading. Before too much longer, I find myself, Lady Estellise, Mr. Raven, Karol, and Ms. Rita trapped by one of the Elite, Elydor... when we saw Yuri last..."

Rita found herself shuddering from the unwanted memory, all while Judith remained still, her expression unreadable. Flynn took a moment to compose himself, as if he wasn't sure how to continue with the story, as if he was unsure of how to effectively convey the depth of what they had seen, had heard. Of just how frightened that they had been, not for themselves, but for Yuri.

"Well?" She heard Judith finally say, her voice controlled, "When you last saw Yuri...what happened?"

"...he was in terrible shape, but he challenged the man anyway. They fought, and several times, we were sure Yuri would win... then... something went wrong.. Yuri... changed again, and it seemed he would decapitate Elydor... but again... something...happened...Yuri," Flynn's voice was getting thick, and his face was no longer taunt in concentration, but anguish at recalling that horrid memory. Rita didn't blame him, she was getting ill remembering it herself. "Yuri lost control, of everything, thrashing around as if he were in pain, screaming at the top of his lungs...and then it stopped. He killed Elydor, decapitation. He then turned to us, and thrust the sword into the air, and magic began swirling around it..."

"Then?" Judith inquired, her eyes narrowed.

"Someone jumped in and took him out in a matter of seconds, then took off with him." Flynn sighed, looking down to the earth, his face hidden from view. "We chased after the person, but were unable to catch them... and that was the last we've seen of Yuri."

"Strange, he didn't seem insane when I last saw him." Judith mention offhandedly, her tone almost playful. "But I only saw him for a few hours, before dropping him and that man off..." The krityan paused again, as if communicating with Ba'Ul, before looking back at her traveling companions. "I guess I'd better tell you guys some of what I know."

"Only some?" Karol piped up, looking at the krityan in confusion.

"There's a lot, and I should only tell you whats important for now." Just the way she said those words with complete conviction scared Rita. She wanted to know, but she wasn't sure she actually wanted to know. She had a feeling that the Krityan was bringer of both good and bad news. "We don't have much time, Ba'Ul's already found Yuri, It wont take us long to get there."

"Wait a second, you're saying that Ba'Ul can track people?" Rita found herself saying, her voice incredulous, an eyebrow raised. She had a hard time believing that the entelexeia could track someone so easily, if that was the case, they would have found Estelle so much quicker, and would have done away with her that much quicker too.

"No. It's just that Yuri has a strange aura about him." The krityan didn't hesitate in her answer, her eyes concentrating on the floor in front of her, even though her mind was most likely occupied with communicating with Ba'Ul. "Ba'Ul says that there has always been two unexplained sources of power in the world that the entelexeia were unable to do anything about. One of the sources in ancient one, the other one is more recent, within the past fifty years. Recently, Ba'Ul said he felt a third, one that was similar to the ancient one, and hadn't appeared until several months ago, around the time Yuri started acting strangely and left Zaphias...also...when we tracked after it, it led us straight to him."

"You're saying...that Yuri is power source... like, a walking Aer Krene?" Rita was looking scandalized, or perhaps slightly crazy suited her better. She was already getting her crazy researcher look into place, and she knew it. Frankly, she didn't care, she wanted, no, had to learn more about what was wrong with her idiotic friend. "But, even with mana having replaced the aer, if he's a source of power, the stress from all that mana rushing into and out of his body, that could literally drive him insane... but how and why is this happening?"

"That's something I'll have to explain after we rescue him and Estelle." Judith sighed, now playing with a lock of her hair. It seemed she was feeling pretty restless right now, well, of course she was feeling restless, two of her friends were now at a merciless monster of an Elite Council member's mercy. When Flynn and the old man had told her who the woman she and Yuri had seen was Amynorp, and explained what kind of woman she was, Judith had been both excited, and angry all at the same time.

Like Rita had felt just now.

Her hypothesis made perfect sense, at least originally. But the more she thought about it, the less sense her hypothesis made, and even with whatever Judith might have to add, there was still missing pieces that couldn't fit, unless, the mana passage through his body wasn't the only abnormal thing.

Seemed like she really would have to wait until they rescued their idiot friends.

* * *

><p>His head was killing him, and he kept varying between the extremes of hot and cold. Perhaps he had got himself sick?<p>

Not only that, he'd lost his guide earlier.

Then again, if he was walking right into a trap, he supposed it made perfect sense.

Yuri was still walking in the long, black tunnel, with no source of light, his eyes having long ago adjusted to the darkness. Even so, he still couldn't see anything, this darkness was far from normal. Besides that, he had felt along the walls and had concluded some time ago that he was walking through an enlarged pipe.

There hadn't been any problems with anything thus far, but he knew that he would eventually walk into a trap. This woman, he believed that she was Amynorp, the most feared of the elite. Not due to anything good, he had heard. Even in the lower quarter, saying her name had frightened people, and anytime she was spoken of, people recoiled in fear.

He wasn't that worried though.

Yuri figured it was because he had known he would have to face her someday, and had already made peace with his decisions. It felt like he was walking into his grave, but did his best not to think of it too much. He had learned that over thinking things wasn't good, he'd end up brooding over his inescapable situation instead of doing what he could.

Even if all he could do was kill, every time he killed one of the elite, he came one step closer to saving everyone important to him. If he killed all the elite before the six months were up, and it was getting dangerously close. On the bright side, he knew he only had three of the elite left, on the more depressing side of things, he knew that these enemies wouldn't be easy.

Not that any of them had been easy.

Some had been quicker than others, but none of them had been easy.

Suddenly the room was flooded with light, and instinctively, Yuri went to cover his eyes with his arm. At the same time, he felt a blinding pain rush through his head, and felt as though his head was encased in ice. After a few moments, the feeling faded, and Yuri squinted and peeked over his arm. The light was still blinding, but it wasn't as bad as it had been just minutes before.

He had arrived at the end of the hallway, which had somehow automatically opened another door. Perhaps a floor plate he had stepped on? He didn't know, also, he didn't really care. The easier it was to get to Estelle and save her, the better. Yuri didn't expect it to be easy, and if it came down to it, he would have Estelle flee, and tap into the curse's power.

The room that the hallway he had followed led to was large, even though he could only see to the other side. It seemed that he was up on a balcony above another stretch of room below. The entire area was a dull whitish gray, and, like in Peis, the light was provided by strangely colored blastia core like gems that were imbedded in the walls.

He cautiously walked out into the open balcony, his eyes scanning the area around him. Yuri found himself questioning the lack of guards, well, anywhere. In Peis he had to fight the Savage Wolf guild to get from place to place, in Kvar, he had to fight guards to get just about anywhere. In Rechner...well, he had been escorted everywhere... and in Aeolus he'd also been escorted directly to Sutsycrof...

It couldn't have been avoided... but, he felt some guilt over that kill.

This time, he suddenly felt aches all over his body, but mainly at his joints and muscles, accompanied by a feeling of his head being overheated. This feeling was going to drive him insane, so instead, he focused on shaking himself out of his depressing thoughts. Now, Yuri took a good look at his surroundings. For the upper level, the walls were a dull concrete gray, with gem-like light sources, a vibrant pink in color, every few meters on the walls. However, what he noticed the most was the green gems that were embedded in the corners of the room, they didn't give off any light so he could only imagine their use.

Now that he was close enough to the railing, he thought he might peer over the edge and see what was down below. But he knew he'd have to be careful, anything here could be a trap, a fake tile on the floor, a fake stretch of railing... fake steps. At least, there had to be traps like that, with the lack of guards and all. There was no way that it was going to be that simple, not with her reputation. So, with his head still throbbing duly, he peered over the edge.

Below him was another room, as large as the empty space before the balcony. Like the area he was in, it was a dull concrete gray with dark pink lighting and the strange green gems in the corners of the room. But, that's not what drew his attention and curiosity. Below him, in the room, were hundreds of strange, crystal-like, red statues. The second his eyes landed on those strange statues, he felt a feeling comparable to a jolt of electricity shoot through his body.

"Whats going on here?" He whispered to himself, still shocked at his discovery.

Finding himself drawn to the strange objects below, and remembering the odd feeling he had just felt, Yuri looked around for some sort of staircase. To his right, a simple iron staircase, again, unguarded. He was running down it in seconds, finding himself strangely fascinated by them, and at the same time, utterly repulsed and frightened of them. Also, he wanted to know what they were, exactly and why he kept having these strange reactions to them. Somehow, he knew there was more to them than his initial observation- strange red crystal-like statues.

Yuri felt himself jumping the last few steps and reaching the bottom of the stairs, his eyes narrowed and sweeping over the strange room full of statues. Something wasn't right, no, this room wasn't right. It was beyond unnerving and downright creepy with a heavy sort of atmosphere, and in his initial observation, he noticed several strange things, and all at once.

First, they were all life size statues of humans. Two, they were all made from this unrecognizable red crystal. Three, all of the statues were frozen in expressions of pain and anguish. Four, all the people portrayed in the statues seemed to be weak, in some way. Men and women who were old, frail, or too young and weak, sickly. Not one of the statues looked like a show of health. And five, they all had one of the lacrimes carved into their chests.

Either there was some sort of message in the statues or Amynorp was some sort of sick sadist.

He weaved through the strange field of statues, looking for more clues than the few provided. The whole time, his headache growing more painful and the throbbing growing louder inside of his head. Trying to focus on the world around him, Yuri stopped at one of the statues, one of an older woman, who stood, bent over and clutching at her lacrime. For some reason, this statue didn't seem as...crystal-like as the others. For some reason, this one seemed more real...

Yuri doubled over, clutching his head with his free hand, his breathing heavy, labored even. He felt as though his body was on fire, aching all over, yet his head was covered in ice. Wiping some sweat off his brow, his hands feeling rather clammy, he figured he must have somehow got himself really sick. But strangely enough, he wasn't feeling tired or lethargic, in fact, he felt rather energetic... just achy, with a headache, labored breathing, and feeling hot and cold.

Some of the strangest symptoms he'd ever had.

Yuri had already reached the other side of the room, and was beginning to see some only partial statues, perhaps they were incomplete? On closer inspection, it looked as if someone had chipped pieces of the crystal off, but that didn't seem important. And he already had a good idea of how many statues were in the room, although he still had no idea for the purpose of them.

It didn't help that he felt as though his head were about to explode...

He wouldn't save Estelle by loitering around in this room.

Yuri shook himself and turned away from the statues, searching for some sort of door along the wall. It wasn't hard to find, and was actually directly below from where he had entered this room from above. Just looking through the double doors, he could see several guards, well, at least he now knew that there were guards, he actually felt a little better. Now, for some reason, this place didn't seem so intimidating.

* * *

><p>The obviously fake mountain stood as a testament to Amynorp's power. Even if the mountain was a fake, the fact that she could have something like that built at all was a show of money and manpower. Karol wondered if that was the only reason this place was built, as a marker of status and not for practical purpose.<p>

Well, it was hiding that woman's hideout from them, perhaps that served as its use. But even then, why not hollow out a mountain and build into it? It may be harder to do, but the results were surely better than this laughable thing before him and his friends.

Ba'Ul had traced Yuri's strange power waves all the way here, to this mountain in the southern edges of Hyponia. According to what Judy said, Yuri's guide had her drop them off near Egother forest, which was a day and half to two day's journey by foot from their current location. In other words, they were on Yuri's heels.

This was both exciting and worrisome.

Karol glanced over at his companions, who, like him, were looking around the fake mountain for some sort of entrance. Rita was scouring the area, her eyes not missing any little details. Raven was more relaxed about the situation, as if he already had an idea on how to get inside. Flynn was somewhere between those two extremes, and he'd lost track of Judy and Repede.

"Over here!"

Speak of the devil.

Karol ran towards her voice, the others just behind him. Judith was a good ten to fifteen meters from where everyone else had congregated, Repede beside her, and he was wondering what sort of thing they might have found. If they were lucky, they might have found an entrance. He was rather hoping they had, the sooner they got to Yuri or Estelle, the better.

Sure enough, the Krityan and the dog was standing beside an opening to the false mountain, which to Karol resembled a black hole, devoid of any light. He was getting the chills just looking at it, and while he felt like he wanted to run, he knew couldn't. Estelle was in dire need of their help, and from the way Judy had spoke earlier, so was Yuri.

Rita was staring into the void with a frown on her face, and Karol wondered what was on her mind. She wasn't the only one, the other three adults also had a look of deep concentration, and general mistrust of their surroundings. Of course, they were in enemy territory, so it was only natural, at first he thought that. But, after a moment of staring into the darkness of the tunnel, he understood. That the darkness was not natural.

Suddenly, Flynn stepped towards the entrance, and as if setting a mental trigger, the others wordlessly followed. Karol raised an eyebrow, confused as to why everyone was acting like this, and fell in step behind them. It was his job to be overly concerned about a mission, to panic and to worry. Seeing everyone else focused and serious like this, it sort of put him on edge.

A few minutes later, fully submerged in the darkness, Karol felt himself stumbling around, and trying to listen for the footsteps of his comrades. If only he could see, this place was giving off a creepy vibe, and he rather disliked not being able to see. If only Rita could still use magic, and summon some fireballs for light, then perhaps this place wouldn't be so creepy.

Then again, hadn't Elydor used magic? But how?

"Oooh, what sort of moron designed this place?" Rita snarled from a good two or three meters in front of him, and to his right. From what he could tell, she had stomped her right foot, and assumed her normal aggressive stance, had she stepped in a trap or something? "I lit a torch using the normal methods, but I can't even see it!"

"How do you know you lit it then?" Raven's playful tone came from the same area's as Rita's aggressive one.

"I burnt my hand on it you idiot! Here, wanna feel?" Rita taunted, and Karol knew this was going to end badly for the old man.

"Hot hot hot! Okay, okay!" Raven yelped, his footsteps moving closer to Karol and further away from Rita.

"So you're saying that even though there is a light source...we can't see it?" This time it was Flynn, and he sounded confused, almost surprised that they couldn't see even though there was a light source in the vicinity. "This darkness definitely isn't natural... but even so I wouldn't expect it to completely block out the light..."

"Maybe we walked into a 'blind' spell?" Judy suggested from close by Flynn. Karol finally figured out where everyone was, and that could only mean that the one walking beside him must be Repede. "After all, if the elite can use magic, like what you told me about Elydor, it would make sense if someone like Amynorp could use magic too."

At that moment, Karol tripped, falling flat on his face.

"Ow!" His nose was definitely bleeding, but that was such a minor injury that he paid it little attention. He was laying flat, his face plastered to the floor and other leg sticking up in the air awkwardly from when he fell.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine..." Karol grunted, clumsily making his way to sit up again, feeling around in the dark, unsure of his movements. He brought his legs towards his body, but felt something against them, and heard a clatter. Perplexed, he felt along the floor of the tunnel, looking for whatever he had tripped over. First, he found his bag and his weapon, and knowing that the others were waiting for him, decided to give up.

At that moment, his hands found what he had been looking for. From what he could feel, it was a rod-like weapon, something either Judy, or maybe even Estelle would use. It was a sturdy, simplistic, almost standard issue design, and seemed like someone might have dropped it earlier. Suddenly, his fingers brushed over an engraving, and after several moments of feeling over it, he realized that it spelled 'RPT'.

"RPT...wait, r...p...t?" Karol muttered to himself, something stirring in his memory, about something that had happened only yesterday, in Danhgrest... But, he couldn't remember, but it was there, just on the edge of his memory... He was holding everyone up, he could dwell on this matter later... Then he heard Flynn call again, asking if he was alright.

And then he knew.

* * *

><p>AN: Getting so close! So soon! XD

_Next Time:_

**_"Yuri, what are you doing, run, its a trap!"_**

**_"These statues...they're people!"_**

**_"She doesn't need her limbs to mother the next Emperor, does she?"_**

**_"I was right, Yuri is-!"_**

**_"Those eyes of his, I can't stand them..."_**

_The Separation: Amynorp: One_


	29. The Separation: Amynorp: One

A/N: Sorry its so late... ^_^' Please enjoy~

* * *

><p>It would only be a matter of time until he walked through those doors, and then, his fate would be sealed. Before that happened, she had to warn him, and although she doubted it, maybe he would listen, maybe he would run... however slim a chance it may be, she couldn't help but hope that he would take it. She knew that Amynorp's plans for him could only be less than pleasant.<p>

Estelle watched the image projected by the strange apatheia-like gem that Amynorp had called, the 'Aurora Gem'. From what she had been told, the Aurora Gem corresponded with several other, smaller Aurora Gems, the smaller ones transmitting anything that was reflected on their surfaces to the larger one, which then could project the image for viewing.

She wasn't sure when such advanced technologies had came about, and had a feeling that she wasn't going to like to where they would lead. The Aurora Gem technology was only one of the many mysteries they had seen fit to solve for her, the rest of this accursed place remained in shadow. There was so much that she, and Ioder, had not known of, and, if the council had their way, it would remain so.

Honestly, right now, she wasn't all that concerned with the issue.

According to the Aurora Gem, Yuri had plowed right through dozens of guards in minutes, and sought out the map to this wretched place. And again, in less than a few minutes, he had figured out where Amynorp was, and was heading straight for her, his eyes hardened and Flamberge at the ready. He was terrifying, it wasn't Yuri, at least, he wasn't the Yuri she knew and...

Her heart clenched painfully, she bowed her head and curled her body slightly, as if wanting to hide. Instinctively, she raised her arms to her chest, at least she tried- she had almost forgotten she was holding Second Star. Estelle loosened her posture slightly, staring down at the Sacred Blade she held in her hands, the blade Yuri had often said was his favorite...

This sword... hadn't Yuri got this sword back when...

She shook herself firmly, this was no time to be reminiscing.

She looked back at the screen, her eyes tracing over Yuri's hard, almost angry features. She had seen this expression before, but these actions, this fighting style, this- everything... it wasn't him. It wasn't him at all. Did he know she was here? Was he angry because she had got herself captured? Even if he had been avoiding her, even if he had tried to hide his crimes, and even if he had killed the elite, they were still friends, right?

Yeah... friends... again, her chest clenched painfully as she repeated the word in her head, like a mantra. They would survive this- he would come out victorious and... she was being rescued again. She had thought she beyond this. Angry tears began to build in her eyes, but she forced them back. She had to be strong. She had to wait for the opportune moment.

She glanced over to Amynorp, who was sitting, rather relaxed, in the center of the circular room. The room itself wasn't that large, maybe a diameter of six, maybe seven meters at the most. The walls were made from some sort of gray brick, and on the walls were several images, from all over the compound, and, corresponding with the images, in the center of the room surrounding Amynorp's chair, was eight pedestals with Aurora Gems placed neatly on some sort of mount. Estelle stood a little behind the Elite, surrounded by four guards. At the only entrance, the west entrance, four more guards stood. And, also, in the room, scattered and hugging the walls, another twelve...

If Yuri did make it here...

She didn't want to think what might happen...

The door clicked, and, heart beating with anticipation, Estelle spun to see who was walking through that door. Her green eyes widened as a familiar figure stalked into the room, his pace slow, unhurried, his long hair shielding his face and Flamberge gripped firmly in his right hand. He had came, he had walked right into this woman's trap...he was going to die!

"Yuri, what are you doing, run, its a trap!"

Just as she screamed those words, one of the guards grabbed her arms, and another immediately covered her mouth and grabbed her hair. Second Star dropped to the floor, forgotten. Seeing the distress she was in, Yuri made a move to run to her aid, just as a thin blade was produced from the third guards arm guard, bringing it up to Estelle's neck.

Yuri stopped immediately, his eyes on the weapon that was held up against her neck.

Estelle did her best to hide her fear, instead, focused on keeping her eyes steady and determined, she would not show any fear. If it was her life or his, she'd gladly die. Of course, he wouldn't want to hear her say that, but that was her honest truth. If he looked her in the eye, would her truth show? If so, he might do something stupid, it was highly unlikely for Yuri to accept something like that... then again, it was unlike him to seriously injure Flynn and leave him too...or do anything he had recently done...

Speaking of Yuri's track record, considering some of the feats she'd heard he'd done, and some of the amazing kills he had made, Amynorp seemed really...relaxed... unworried. Even though Yuri was somewhat infamous among the Elite, and she was sure he was also infamous among the council, but even with all of this, Amynorp still looked like she felt as though she was top dog here.

Oh yeah, Estelle had forgotten she was a hostage. That was why the woman was still so confident, even though Yuri was out for her hide. Estelle noticed one of the guards closing the door behind Yuri, trapping the swordsman in the room with the rest of them. Estelle watched Yuri, his body language suggested he wasn't worried at all...

Then his eyes met hers.

She had already hardened her eyes, hid her fear, yet, she felt like he could see right through her. It was a strange feeling, almost like the two of them were alone. He seemed to be saying 'Don't worry, It'll be fine', as if he could tell she was scared. Funny thing was, he seemed pretty scared too. Even though his eyes and posture seemed to suggest a calmer emotion, something controlled, she knew... he just as scared as she was.

* * *

><p>The mage observed the strange statues, seemingly created out of some strange red crystal. The more she observed them, the less sense she made of them. She couldn't figure out what sort of purpose they might serve, as they were not aesthetically pleasing. They were in the shape of people, all of them crying out- in pain, in agony. Some of them were clutching at their chests, others clawing at their eyes.<p>

Every single statue made her ill to look at, with feelings of pity nearly overwhelming her. She couldn't understand why they made her feel that way, but she continued to observe them as Raven and Judith searched the room for an exit. She had long ago lost track of the commandant and Repede, while Karol was off in his own little world just a little ways off.

But right now, they weren't that important, not compared to these strangely fascinating statues. Rita knew she didn't have much time to learn from them, but she was going to take advantage of all the time she was given, without complaint. She found herself running her fingers over the statues smooth surface, feeling for all the nooks and crannies... was it just her or were the statues warm even though this room was freezing?

"Hey, Karol!" She yelled without meaning to, her voice harsh and loud in this impossibly silent place. Rita was surprised by how loud she sounded, and from the look on Karol's face, she could tell she wasn't the only one. Forcing herself to calm a little and to quiet herself, she continued her thought a little more carefully, "Those statues over there, are they hot or cold?"

"Huh?" The younger boy looked confused by her question, not that that surprised Rita much, that kid was always confused. He'd always been a little slow. But, she wasn't disappointed by asking him. Just a moment later and without hesitation, Karol reached out and touched the statue nearest to him. He only for a second, before drawing away his hand in horror. "It- it's warm! And it pulsed, like its alive!"

Karol's yelp had drawn attention, and within seconds, the other four members of their little rescue party had shown up. Well, there went her time to study these things, but, she felt as though she had already figured out most of the rather tragic details. The look of the statues, the realism of the people portrayed, the mana pumping through them at an alarming rate...she already knew most of it.

"Are you alright?" Flynn asked almost automatically, looking from Karol to Rita in concern.

"Y...Yeah." The kid nodded from Rita's right. Rita herself was too caught up in her thoughts, and merely nodded.

"Well, we found the way to the next area." Raven drawled from between two of the anguished statues, looking quite uncomfortable as he spoke. With a wry smile, Rita thought it was quite perfect that he was so uncomfortable, given the circumstances and the statues themselves. She knew she should probably tell them, but she didn't know if now was a good time.

Who was she kidding, if she told them, and made it quick...

"Is something on your mind?" Judith spoke up, suddenly behind her. Go figure Judith would notice if she was keeping something to herself. Again, Rita nodded, before looking around at her companions, who suddenly had all of their attention on her. She half wanted to groan, but she knew she was going to tell them eventually. Heh, well, she supposed there was no hiding it now...

"Guys, touch one of those statues." Rita spoke as she walked to the center of the rough circle they had accidentally formed. She looked at each of them with a sweeping gaze, her eyes resting on Raven for a moment. She frowned to herself slightly, it might not be a good idea for him to touch these things, given his heart. "Although, be careful old man, it might be strenuous on your heart."

She was shocked that no one asked any questions, and the lack of hesitation, as everyone aside from Karol and Repede reached out and briefly caressed the nearest statue with their fingertips. And like with Karol, their reactions were much the same. Almost everyone drew back their hands to their chests in shock. Again, she glanced at the old man, worried about his heart, and was astonished to see that he was the only one who was still touching the statue, a rather sad look on his face.

He knew.

She looked over at Flynn and Judith, who were standing in place silently, looking down at their hands and back to the statue, both of them frowning. They looked as though they were starting to get the idea, the truth behind these statues. Rita sighed, knowing she was going to have to explain it anyway.

"These statues were once people. People who were imprisoned by the elite, with the lacrime put on their body. The red lacrime accumulate mana, and eventually crystallize the host body, turning it into one large lacrime. Then, that itself is broken down and processed into more advanced forms of lacrime, like the blond kid's lacrime-vita and the redheaded girl's lacrime-magia. From the notes I took while examining those kids and what I've observed here, I've come to the conclusion that Lacrime draw in vast amounts of mana, but only a small percentage of it is actually usable. The rest of the mana is directed by the lacrime to rest in parts of the body for storage in times of crisis...there's a whole lot more... but we don't have the time for me to explain it right now..." Rita turned away.

"Wait...are you saying that these statues..." Flynn began, his blue eyes widening in horror, not wanting to say it out loud- but Rita cut him off and turned away from the rest of her companions looks of horror.

"These statues...they're people...and lacrime."

* * *

><p>Yuri didn't know what he had expected.<p>

But, he hadn't expected this fear.

He had told himself hundreds of times on the way here that he would hide his emotions easily. That he would deal with Amynorp just like he had dealt with every other elite. Estelle would be rescued and he would take her to Aurnion- from there, he had no idea what would happen. But, he had convinced himself he would be able to handle it in a calm, composed manner.

Now that he was here, he thought himself a fool for ever thinking such a thing in the first place.

For one, actually being in Amynorp's presence was entirely different than seeing her over a projector, or hiding from her altogether. Now that he was actually in front of her, fully in her sight and range... he felt a sense of dread. It wasn't quite the same as the feeling he had when he had been attacked by that woman who had cursed him, but, he felt as though it was definitely comparable. Like a rock sinking to the bottom of his stomach.

And then there was Estelle.

He had been convinced that she would have recoiled from his gaze, looked away, anything. But when he had looked at her, trying to get a grasp of the situation, she had met his gaze fearlessly. Her eyes had held no trace of anger. There had been fear, but, he knew that it wasn't a fear of him, but a fear of the situation. And this knowledge confused him. He had been convinced that she would be terrified- no, disgusted by him.

But she wasn't.

Of course, he might just be imagining things in order to soothe his own nerves.

He found himself fearful, an emotion of which he hadn't felt in a long time. It was because he already knew that Amynorp was a ruthless, merciless opponent. She was a like a bird of prey, her sharp eyes searching for a moment of weakness, a moment when his guard was let down, in which she would swoop in with her talons and twist the life out of him- or even Estelle.

Her target was him, why else would she take a hostage?

But, even so, he couldn't give in that easily. The fate of the world rested on his shoulders and his shoulders alone. He didn't intend to die here, but neither did he intend to make Estelle a sacrifice. He needed to find a way to manipulate Amynorp into fighting him one on one, or to make her call off her guards, or, something!

In hindsight, he probably should have thought this out a little more, instead of rushing blindly to the rescue.

If he lived through this, he'd make sure to take that thought to heart.

"I'm surprised you came, even knowing that it was a trap." Amynorp's voice echoed through the room, as she turned her azure eyes to him, looking him up and down. Yuri felt a shiver go down his spine, and figured that she was eying him like a wolf eyed its prey. Her gaze was making him very uncomfortable, but he knew that he couldn't show any weakness or hesitation. "Are you trying to play hero? Or, are you trying to die?"

"Stop playing around, you know that's not what I'm here for." Yuri snarled. He felt rage boiling inside of him, overwhelming the fear he had felt earlier. He didn't know why he was so angry, but, honestly, he didn't care. This anger might help him destroy this woman- this member of the Council Elite, long feared as the most evil of them all. Yuri grasped Flamberge's handle firmly, flinging his arm out in a wide arc, the sheathe flying off into a corner of the room. "I don't care if you want your cronies over there to fight for you or with you, lets just get this over with."

"Wow, you get to the point don't you?" She raised an eyebrow to his callous request, less annoyed and more entertained. This time, Yuri felt more like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. He felt like he had overlooked something, and that she already had him by the tail. But what could he have possibly overlooked? He looked up to see Amynorp thinking, and prepared to attack her while she was distracted- when she suddenly smirked. "All right then. I'll fight you..."

Yuri placed his blade on his shoulder, preparing to charge into battle-

"Buuuut..." Amynorp lamented, turning away from him, her azure hair whirling around her, her long purple antennae following suite. Yuri, already half ready to charge, hesitated as a feeling of ice cold dread shot through his body. He stood there, battle ready, as Amynorp glanced over at Estelle, and then him- with a cruel smirk firmly in place. "I have such nice, smooth, scar-free skin... and I would be outraged if this were to change- so angry, that in fact, I would channel my anger onto someone else... lets see, a limb for every injury?"

"Nice try." Yuri muttered, sounding a whole lot braver than he felt. He did his best to recall the conversation that the elite had at bluebell meadow all that time ago- didn't they say they were going to marry her off and control her for whatever reason? Not that he would ever let that happen, but, for the elite, there's no way that something that valuable would be thrown away so easily. It was clearly a bluff. "She's the princess, you need her for your little scheme don't you?"

He thought he had won this little bout, but then, he felt the chill again. Amynorp turned around completely to face him, looked him dead in the eye and replied completely seriously- without hesitation, "She doesn't need her limbs to mother the next Emperor, does she?"

Yuri then realized that he had never stood a chance.

Amynorp found and exploited peoples weaknesses. That's why she had kidnapped Estelle. That's why she had led him here without a fight. That's why none of her guards had attacked him. She had already won, and he, like a fool, had walked right into her death trap. He was angry with himself, but more worried about the situation to care too much.

He had to get Estelle out of there, but how? He didn't even care about dealing with Amynorp now, at this point, he found himself far too concerned with Estelle's safety. She had many of the Elite's cronies guarding her, well, more of less. He also had no way to bypass Amynorp's radar. For the first time in a while, Yuri found himself truly stuck.

He heard Estelle shout out a warning, felt something hit the side of his head- and then he was greeted by the darkness.

* * *

><p>Rita's hypothesis fit.<p>

Considering everything the Krityan knew, everything that the young mage had deduced- it all fit. There was still a few things that Judith didn't understand herself, and still a few things she knew that needed explaining- but- that stuff could wait until after they rescued Yuri and Estelle. She knew that they didn't have much time, that they needed to reach the others before Yuri's little problem kicked in. By then, it might be too late.

They had already fought off a decent number of enemies, mainly guards with the occasional strange guard robot. Nearly everything they fought was in some way equipped with a lacrime- allowing even machines to cast magic. Judith knew that it was annoying Rita to no end, seeing nearly every living thing but her casting magic and hurling it their way.

Karol was being silent, almost unusually so. At first she thought it was due to the shock of finding out how lacrime were created, but, then she remembered that he had been silent before then too. Perhaps he might have figured out another piece to the puzzle, and, like her, was saving it for a better time. It would be nice if that were the case, perhaps then, they wouldn't be struggling too much to figure out what was going on.

Repede trotted beside Flynn, sniffing the air or ground every once in a while. If he found anything, he'd let the commandant know by nudging his nose against Flynn's hand. Flynn was even better with Repede than Yuri was. It didn't surprise her too much, considering Yuri had once told them that if Repede considered anyone his master, it was Flynn.

Flynn himself was fully focused on his surroundings. She now knew why he had been described with "a steely gaze". He had always came off as the determined, focused type. But she had no idea how much he was so until now. If he got any more determined or focused, she was sure that he might break in half from all the stress. Then again, if he was anything like Yuri, he knew how and when to relax.

She doubted Rita however, could relax anytime soon. The ex-mage was off in her own little world, muttering theories to herself and almost walking- never mind- actually walking into things. Considering that she had just possibly figured out how lacrime were mass produced, and the terrible reality behind it, Judith didn't blame her one bit. It reminded her of when she had found out part of the truth behind the changing world.

The old man, meanwhile, was ever vigilant and alert, although he did his best not to show it. His formed shock and momentary sadness when learning the truth behind the lacrime hadn't faded, he was just much better at hiding it. Judith knew he was just as horrified as the rest of them, even if it wasn't immediately obvious to the naked eye.

"Hey... uhm, I just thought of something." Karol spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to him. He was standing rather straightly, a perplexed look on his face while his hands toyed with the weapon in his hands. After all, maybe he had thought of something to help them save their friends, or even something relevant to perhaps fighting Amynorp.

"What is it?" Judith asked, looking back at him with a kind smile. She could sense that everyone was watching Karol with a sense of apprehension and hope. Judith personally, was doing her best to keep an eye on her surroundings, they couldn't afford to have someone or something launch a sneak attack on them while their attention was delayed. She knew that Flynn and Raven would also be listening cautiously, but it never hurt to have another set of eyes and ears on guard.

"Well, if lacrime make more lacrime by latching on to someone's body..." Karol began, reciting what he had heard from Rita earlier to the best of his ability. Judith was honestly a little surprised not to see Rita leaping at his throat and correcting him. Then again, it was probably because Rita herself was still shaky with lacrime study. "Then... how was the first lacrime created?"

"That's a good question, and I have no idea what that answer might be yet." Rita groaned, reemerging from her thoughts, surprising everyone. Judith had been sure that Rita wouldn't be speaking for another few hours or so while she went through all the available data in her head. "My question is, how can lacrime take in such vast amounts of mana, and even previously aer, without there being any immediate effects? It makes no sense whatsoever!"

"I might know how to find those answers..." Judith said, remembering her trip to Kleoryen, the ancient ruins of the old Krityan city of knowledge. She was already planning on bringing her companions there later, to help possibly explain Yuri's condition- that is, she was right about his supposed condition in the first place. "But its really not the time to be standing around talking about those things, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah." Rita and Karol sighed in agreement.

They continued in silence for a while, fighting when necessary and following Repede's nose. There was a good amount of puzzles they had to solve as to continue in deeper, to the heart of the compound. Each time they solved one puzzle, another, more difficult one, took its place. Judith found herself growing increasingly annoyed by the devices set up, and wishing that she could just bust through the walls and get to their destination pronto.

But of course, that idea would most likely not work.

Suddenly, she heard Ba'Ul speaking to her, his words hushed, worried, and carrying a dreadful message. She didn't know it, but she was paling and her eyes were widening as she listened, while her companions watched in concern, unable to hear Ba'Ul's voice. As soon as Ba'Ul finished speaking, Judith stood blankly for a moment while everyone asked if she was okay.

Then, in a voice that was almost too quiet to hear, she whispered hurriedly, "I was right, Yuri is-!"

* * *

><p>His head was throbbing and his body was aching dully. Nothing was clear, everything he saw seemed to resemble a watercolor painting done by a child and everything he heard was distorted and strange. Whatever, or, whoever, had hit him was very good at it- he hadn't felt anything like this since he had first received the curse.<p>

Now that he was regaining his consciousness, Yuri knew he had better try and ascertain the situation around him best he could. Alright, one of the larger guards was holding him by hooking his arms underneath Yuri's. Yuri was all too familiar with this situation, and wasn't at all liking where this was looking like it was going.

At least everyone was paying less attention to Estelle now, perhaps soon, there would be an opportunity for her to try and escape. Yuri glanced at the world around him, the guard who had held the blade to Estelle's throat earlier had already put it aside, assuming that the little princess wouldn't be able to make her own escape- although he still cast glances back at her, being cautious as possible. The guard wouldn't allow Estelle to slip away so easily.

Yuri knew he needed to get everyone to focus on him, perhaps then Estelle could slip away undetected. He shook his head, trying to regain full consciousness, catching a glimpse of Amynorp hovering near her chair, where a strange table had appeared. As it had wheels on its legs, he assumed it had been rolled in here while he was unconscious.

The female elite was picking up random, somewhat shapeless items and discarding them. His vision was still blurry and his head ached even more so than normal- he hoped he didn't have any head trauma or any lasting injuries that could impair him in battle- in case he somehow managed to get himself out of this mess. The rest of his extremities felt fine, and he noticed that Flamberge had been taken away, and most likely out of the room, leaving him weaponless.

Or so they thought.

The man holding him lifted him higher, until just the front tips of his boots barely graced the floor as Amynorp approached him, her eyes full of malice and glee. To the right, he noticed a guard approach him with something in his hands. He kept his face hard, and his eyes emotionless. He couldn't show any emotion, anything, otherwise she'd dive in and attack mercilessly. She got right in his face and a wide smirk split across her face as the guard to his right grabbed his hand and jutted out his thumb.

He yelled as his thumbnail was ripped clean off of his thumb, the pain traveling up his hand to his arm like pins and needles. His eyes widened and he clenched his teeth, cutting off his yell of pain halfway. He felt his nostrils widen and his eyebrows furrow, his eyebrows narrowing as his breathing grew heavy.

Yuri heard Estelle's stifled scream as the guard threw his thumbnail to the floor carelessly, clattering over to her and stopping at her feet. He didn't want her to see this, and willed her to shut her eyes and turn away- and hopefully escape while the Elite was focused on him. Speaking of Amynorp, he looked back up just in time to see her receive a small, thin blade from the guard who had just ripped off his thumbnail. He had a bad feeling about this.

The elite brought the shard up to his cheek, and pressed it to the skin oh so gently, applying pressure until blood began to gather. Then, she slowly dragged the blade across his face, from his cheekbones down to his chin, forming a thin, red line. Blood began seeping out, dripping from his chin onto his vest. But she wasn't done yet, and dragged the blade further across his face, from the juncture of his nose and eye to just under hi ear, forming a large x on his right cheek. The entire time, she looked as though she was in a happy trance, a faint smile on her slightly parted lips, her eyes serene and face calm.

She was enjoying herself.

Her eyes flickered down to his chest, where the mark of Dea had grown larger and darker, prominent against his skin. The blade now directly resting on his cheekbone just under his eye, she dragged it straight down his face, through the mess of blood, down under his chin and oh so lightly grazing at his neck.

His chest heaving and heart beating frantically, he tried his best to remain an emotionless wall. But his guise was fading, he was growing more and more fearful by the second as she traced around his mark, and leisurely across his chest. It didn't hurt really, stung a bit and bled a little, this was more for her amusement than anything else.

But she had grown bored of tormenting him with just lightly cutting him, an tossed the blade over her shoulder and out of the way. She returned to her table, leaving him for a moment, to go through the rest of her devices. Before he could regroup his thoughts and try and think normally again for even a minute, she waved her hand over her shoulder. The guard that had ripped off his right thumbnail now headed to his left.

He had prepped himself for the pain but it wasn't enough. He let out a sharp cry of pain, and now his breath came out haggard and rough. He barely noticed that the guard had thrown the other thumbnail to the floor, to join the first. His vision was fading to red, and his body felt as through it had been submerged in an icy lake. He fought the all too familiar feeling, knowing Estelle was there, in the room, and the guards, Amynorp, wouldn't hesitate to turn the torture over to her. Biting his lip, he steadied himself as Amynorp approached him once again, this time with what looked like to be a thin, flat knife.

He did not like where this was going.

Yuri wasn't religious, but he prayed Estelle wasn't watching this.

Sure enough, she began to cut sideways on the back of his forearm, as one might cut when peeling a potato, then dragged it under the skin before pulling up, cutting quickly, holding a thin strip of his skin up as some sort of prize. Yuri's teeth had long ago clenched, forcing himself to not cry out when she then stabbed the back of his forearm with the blade, then dragged it up his arm two inches or so, before yanking it out again. She then turned her attention to the other arm, and repeated the process.

Rage began to seep through his body, the icy feeling surrounding him was a nice change from the fiery pain his face, arms, and thumbs were in. He wasn't going to last much longer- he couldn't fight the curse in this situation. Please, he begged internally, please let Estelle escape before I slip. At that moment, he felt a blade go through each of his palms and out of the back of his hands.

He let out a scream, his head shot up and his body arched. He hissed, trying to fight back against the pain, trying to block out Estelle's cries of distress.

Dammit, last he checked the guards were focused on him. Why hadn't she ran yet?

At that moment, the blades were ripped out of his hands, and he raised his eyes to meet Amynorp's, who stood there, just in front of him, holding the daggers that had went right through his hands and out his palms. He met her eyes, steeling himself and directing his growing rage at her. She seemed to be deep in thought- and then, out of nowhere, snapped her fingers.

One of the guards; surely Estelle must be left alone now; approached her with a long, metal poker, handing it over quietly. Yuri raised an eyebrow and stared defiantly back at her as she stroked the poker thoughtfully. What was she going to do with that? Impale him? She would do something like that, he knew that much. He noticed her hand at came to a rest at the tip of the poker, and it was glowing slightly red, a small spell circle forming underneath her.

"Those eyes of his," Her voice came out like silk, her face serene as she spoke. Fire had formed around her hand, and the metal was beginning to glow faintly orange where the fire caressed. Yuri suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it took all he had to continue staring back at her defiantly. "I can't stand them..."

She took the poker away from her hand and pointed it towards Yuri's face. He did not like this, he did not like this at all, but he was unable to do anything about it. As the poker inched closer and closer to his right eye, he prayed that Estelle had managed to escape, to get out of there. Because, he knew he was going to snap at any moment. And with that thought, he felt the poker against his eye.

* * *

><p><strong><em>"I wont let you hurt him any further!"<em>**

**_Rita stared at the small, round object in her hand, greedily feeling for the magical power emanating from it. _**

**_Flynn looked frantically around for the princess and his dark haired best friend, praying they were both okay._**

_****_**Next Time:** The Separation: Amynorp: Zero


End file.
